Citigroup has announced that Rohit Ranjan will take on the reins as the head of its asset based financing (ABF) business in India with immediate effect. In his new role, Ranjan will report to Sanjay Nayar, CEO of Citigroup India.
He moves to the post from his previous position as head of national sales for the transportation segment (commercial vehicle financing). He first joined Citi in 1998 in the ABF business as regional sales head for the north.
Ranjan's move coincides with the group splitting its commercial banking business into ABF and SME components, with Sandeep Ghosh heading up the latter. According to Citigroup, the decision to split the businesses follows a significant inflow and growth in the two departments, which the institution believes justifies the creation of two dedicated business heads.
"India continues to offer a vast set of opportunities in the transportation and the infrastructure led equipment financing in which Citigroup has a significant market share," says Nayar. "We're also ideally poised to capitalize on opportunities in new asset classes like printing equipment, medical equipment, etc."
According to Citi India, the ABF business has become the growth catalyst for the commercial banking business, which has been the driver for the corporate and investment bank since its inception in 1998. Over a six-year period, the commercial banking group has built a balance sheet in excess of $1 billion and a customer base of over 5,000 clients.
