Royal Bank of Scotland has indicated that it is planning to shut down 23 of the 31 branches in India as part of its restructuring plans in the country.

The move comes after the bank was able to obtain an approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to sell its Indian retail and commercial banking businesses to HSBC. Following the shutting down of the branches, the bank will be present in India trough eight hubs in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and Vadodara.

According to reports, the shutting down will begin with the bank's branches in Agra, Jodhpur, Jalandhar, Kolhapur, Mangalore, Shastri Park in Delhi and Udaipur. Following this, the bank will close the remaining branches that are not among the eight hubs. The bank is looking to have a mainly deposit-led banking presence in the Indian market.

It can be noted that the bank's corporate and institutional business or its private banking businesses will operate normally. The bank has about 500 executives in India and reports suggest that the closure would force the company to cut jobs in India. Some suggest that the bank's retail and commercial assets are worth Rs 3,000 crore and have many interested buyers including IndusInd Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Axis Bank.