"We're going to open eight branches in five different cities this year," Deutsche Bank's board member for private and corporate customers, Rainer Neske, told the Financial Times Deutschland.

This is the highest number of branches that Deutsche Bank is allowed to open under Indian regulations.

Neske said the Bank would increase the number of locations in India in the coming years for which it would apply for more branches each year.

Deutsche Bank had recruited 400 distribution personnel so far and hoped to offer the full range of banking services -- from current and savings accounts to credit cards and investment products -- from the very beginning.

The bank was looking to push its retail business in foreign markets in order to reduce its dependence on the slow-growing German market, Neske explained.