Non-resident Indian banking specialist Deepak Ahuja has taken over as head of consumer banking at the State Bank of India UK, India's biggest lender in the UK.

Ahuja joins from Barclays Europe, where he was head of NRI banking, to accelerate expansion of the SBI consumer and wealth management proposition in the UK. His UK banking experience extends back to a senior vice president role at Citibank UK and a marketing head position at ICICI Bank.

"We plan to be a community bank initially before taking it to the wider audience. The brand is well entrenched within the Indian diaspora and the segment has a high level of trust in the bank. This coupled with a high level of innovative service and products is what we will be presenting to the target segment,'' Ahuja said.

SBI UK is currently consolidating its growing retail presence internationally. The bank has seven branches in London, including its local head office. Its network is set to grow to 12 branches by 2012.