Where is Citibank headed in India?

He’s just finished a meeting with the promoter of a large Indian corporation who wants to raise half a billion dollars and is sitting in his 5th-floor office in Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla commercial complex. “Business is flowing in for us,” says Sanjay Nayar, the dapper 46-year-old CEO of Citigroup’s Indian operations and Area Head for Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

The spacious room has a busy air about it and is cluttered with dozens of coffee table books but that doesn’t seem to bother Nayar, who is squeezing in meeting after meeting into his busy day. A client here, a colleague there, a couple of exit interviews… Get the latest updated citibank fixed deposit rates to select the best tenure plan for making some good profits.

Nayar’s just back from a meeting with Citigroup’s global CEO, Vikram Pandit in Citi’s New York headquarters, where things are far more down-tempo than they are here in India. There Pandit, 51, who took charge at the bank in December 2007, is grappling with the onerous task of restructuring Citi’s global balance sheet.

The biggest bank in the US has been hit hard by the subprime crisis with losses and writedowns mounting close to $50 billion since mid-2007. What’s scaring Citibankers in India and elsewhere is Pandit’s declaration that he wants to sell assets worth $400 billion over the next three years. Recently, the bank sold its German banking operations for $7.7 billion to France’s Crédit Mutuel and speculation is rife about a possible offloading of Citi’s non-core assets in Japan.

Back in India, Nayar, too, has his plate full, although Citi’s Indian operations are far better off than what its global situation looks like. Still, his troubles are irksome. Recently, three key Citi executives left the bank—Rajesh Mayani, Director of institutional sales, Ratnesh Kumar, head of research and Narayan Mulchandani, director (sales), in Hong Kong, signed up with a local Indian stockbroking firm, Anand Rathi Securities. Besides these, two others, Anil Gudibande, director and Ashish Pitale, director, global banking, moved to AIG Private Equity and Deutsche Bank, respectively.