Talwar, the first Asian to become chief executive of Standard Chartered, said the thrust area of his bank's operations in India would be retail and corporate banking. Talwar said retail banking in India had the biggest potential in the medium and long term and his bank was determined to cash in on this opportunity. Other focus areas would be loans, especially the credit card business, he said.

Talwar said his bank had invested over $ 220 million in the Indian operations over the last four-five years. ``We have to provide better services. We are determined to make Standard Chartered more efficient, profitable and professional in India. We want to be a good corporate andretail bank,'' he said.

Talking about investment opportunities for foreign capital in India, Talwar said that international business community still viewed India as a very large potential market in the long-term.

However, in the short-term the outlook had not been good as the country had itself put a lot of impeditments in the way of foreign direct investment. The policy framework made it very difficult to get predictability and return on investment, Talwar said.

He said the policies were changed frequently and there was resentment in the system against people making profits.

On the Pokhran nuclear test issue, Talwar said that the business community across the globe did not view it favourably which had affected trade and investment between India and the rest of the world.

Talwar stressed on the need for having transparent policy framework which was open and fair without the distinction of the source of investment and reduction in the size of the bureaucracy.

The Standard Chartered CEO believesthat introduction of the euro currency will have a ``minimal'' impact on India.

On increasing competition ino the industry, Talwar said that the government must face the fact that some companies were bound to close down in the changed scenario and should stop making futile efforts to revive such units. ``Indian companies which do not professionalise will fall by the way side,'' he said.

Talwar said that the banking system here also needed to be changed if it had to become efficient and effective. He said the banks must realise that there job is not to avoid risk but to manage risk. The balance sheets of banks need to be made more open and transparent, he said.