Dubai: State Bank of India (SBI) is planning to open a representative office in the UAE to tap the non-resident Indian (NRI) resources, SBI chairman Janki Ballabh said.

"We have applied to the UAE Central Bank to start a branch and pending that we will open a rep office which can be upgraded into a branch office when the permission comes" he told reporters.

One of the options country's largest commercial bank was considering to set up operations at the Dubai International Financial Centre but would like to wait for a number of clarifications before making a final decision, he said.

The SBI was also planning to come out with a structured deposit scheme, which will target the NRI market and non-resident non-repatriable (NRNR) deposits in a big way when they mature in the light of the new repatriation facilities offered in the current Budget, he said.

The scheme, currently in the planning stage, will need approval of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) but is likely to be a deposit package linked to a floating rate or the LIBOR.

Earlier addressing the Overseas Indians Economic Forum (OIEF), he said the scheme was meant to tap the huge amounts getting matured in the NRNR accounts held by NRIs.

The move gains significance in the wake of the Budget proposal to make all NRI accounts, including NRNR accounts, convertible.

"Almost one-third of the whole amount held in accounts held by NRIs are in NRNR accounts, above Rs 7 billion.

And now the NRIs have the option to transfer these funds to other Rupee accounts or FCNR accounts," he said.

PTI