Credit Suisse has been granted an in-principle approval by the Reserve Bank of India to open a bank branch in Mumbai.

"This is a key pillar of our Asia Pacific strategy of developing our onshore presence in major markets throughout the region," said Kai Nargolwala, the chief executive of Credit Suisse Asia Pacific, in a statement.

Besides being able to accept deposits and offer finance services to clients in India, the bank also received the go-ahead to deal in Indian government securities, other types of domestic fixed-income products, as well as foreign exchange.

The Swiss bank presently offers wealth management, asset management, and investment banking services to high net worth customers in the South Asian country and has an equity brokerage and research business through Credit Suisse Securities India Pvt Ltd.

The bank said it is preparing to make new hires in the country to strengthen its local base. So far, it has more than 40 staff under the wealth management division.

Credit Suisse sees India as a key strategic growth market primarily because of the increasing number of wealthy potential clients in the country. The richest man in Asia according to Forbes Magazine, for instance, is an Indian national, Lakshmi Mittal, whose net worth is at approximately $22.99 billion.