The great Indian home loan puzzle

In October 2003, Romesh Sobti, then executive vice-president of ABN Amro Bank (now he heads IndusInd Bank Ltd) took the Indian mortgage market by storm, announcing home loans at 6% in the first year and 6.5% in the second year-around 1.75 percentage points lower than the prevailing home loan rate, offered by larger banks and housing finance companies. A newspaper headline screamed, "ABN Amro hits a sixer".