Cholamandalam DBS Finance Ltd, a joint venture of DBS Bank of Singapore and Murugappa Group, has decided to close 75 branches in personal loan business.

"The business has to adapt to prevailing conditions in India," a DBS spokesman said, confirming an earlier report that its subsidiary will close 75 of its 260 branches and 200 people will lose their jobs.

In an e-mail sent to employees, Atul Pande, managing director, Chola DBS, said, "The economy, the industry, the financial services industry in particular have been witnessing great turbulence in recent times and we, as an organization, have not been insulated from these happenings. While there are clear signs of slowdown in vehicle finance, home equity businesses, we are facing unprecedented challenges in consumer finance business. The management has decided to take the following steps: (1) reduction in volumes and scaling down consumer finance business. (2) restructuring the number of branches/outlets including closure of unviable branches (3) rationalize the organization in terms of roles (and consequently of people) in line with the actions from (1) and (2) above."

The message also mentioned that the venture is now planning to focus on vehicle finance, asset management, corporate lending and home equity where money is lent against housing property and prime loans.

Although the Indian venture of DBS will shut down some branches, the group is likely to continue with its plans to open 10 outlets in Indian cities. Last month, DBS India launched four new branches across the cities of Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Pune to complement the existing branch operations in New Delhi and Mumbai. With four more branches, Moradabad, Nasik, Salem and Surat slated by year end, DBS India will have a 10-branch network across key cities in the country.

Chief Executive Officer of DBS, Richard Stanley said that India remains one of the company's "biggest priorities," and that earnings from India will "play a bigger role" in the coming years.

DBS, which is Southeast Asia's biggest lender, has a 37.5 percent stake in Cholamandalam DBS Finance. DBS formed a joint venture with Cholamandalam Investments and Finance Company in the middle of 2005.