DS Concept, a trade finance provider, has opened offices in New Delhi and Chennai to service its Indian clients.

The New Delhi office will service the north of the country, while the Chennai branch will service the south. In the north, the company will finance existing customers and aim to recruit more in the manufacturing, textiles, food and IT industries. In the south meanwhile, it is looking to textiles, garments, leather, automotive, agriculture, IT and engineering goods sectors.

In a release, the company says it is expanding its Indian presence as “most foreign lending institutions are scaling back their operations in India” – this is a trend to be found throughout Asia Pacific.

DS Concept started its Indian business financing textiles and apparel, but has moved to diversify its lending and financial services (such as collections and bookkeeping) to exporters in other sectors.

“We have a diversified client portfolio in India across different industries, especially textiles, automotive, pharmaceutical and information technology. We decided to start setting up our first set of offices in the north and south of India, where the majority of our existing client base is. In the next phase, we will be expanding into other regions such as Mumbai, Kolkata and Gujarat,” says Ankit Goel, managing director of DS-Concept Intelligent Trade Finance UAE and India operations.

Many international banks have been struggling to compete with the aggressive terms offered by local banks. Well capitalised and with much greater risk appetite, the Indian banks are hungry for business, as the government continues to put trade, manufacturing and exports at the heart of its economic plan.

DS Concept will offer many of the services offered by trade finance banks, but it claims that it will help its clients secure funding faster than through traditional channels.

As well as India, the company has offices in the US, China, India, Hong Kong, the UAE, Turkey, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iceland, UK, Spain, Bulgaria, Hungary, and its headquarters in Germany.