Deutsche Bank is exploring a full exit from its Indian retail banking business and has invited preliminary bids from domestic and international lenders, two people with direct knowledge of the process told Reuters.

The sources said non-binding offers for the 17-branch network were due by 29 August, although neither the names of interested parties nor the valuation target have been disclosed.

A spokesperson for the Frankfurt-headquartered lender declined to elaborate, telling the news wire that the bank does not “comment on rumours or market speculation”.

The potential divestment follows Deutsche Bank’s wider effort to boost profitability in businesses that lag its global peers. In March, group chief executive officer Christian Sewing said headcount in the retail division “will be cut by almost 2,000 people in 2025”, with a “significant” reduction in branch numbers.

India is Deutsche Bank’s largest operation outside Germany, employing more than 22,000 staff, but retail banking contributes a modest share of the franchise. Regulatory disclosures show revenue from the segment reached $278.3 million in the year to March 2025, a fraction of the group’s $1 billion total net revenue generated in the country.

Foreign lenders have struggled to scale in India’s fast-growing consumer market, where state-owned banks and agile private rivals dominate deposit collection and retail credit. Citigroup agreed to sell its local credit-card and consumer franchise for more than $1 billion in 2022, while Standard Chartered offloaded a $488 million personal-loan portfolio to Kotak Mahindra Bank last year.

Bankers say stringent capital rules, caps on branch expansion and stiff competition on pricing have forced international players to rethink long-held strategies. “The economics rarely stack up without substantial scale, and that is difficult to achieve under the current regime,” said one Mumbai-based adviser familiar with cross-border banking deals, speaking on condition of anonymity because of client sensitivities.

Deutsche Bank last attempted to dispose of its Indian retail and wealth management units in 2017 before abandoning the effort. Renewed interest comes as the lender focuses on fee-generating businesses such as investment banking and wealth management, while leveraging India as a technology and back-office hub.

If completed, the sale would mark another retreat by a global bank from India’s crowded consumer finance arena, underscoring both the opportunities and the constraints that define Asia’s third-largest economy for foreign financial institutions.

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