Deutsche has high hopes for its Indian foray, which it unveiled just a day after announcing it was taking a 9.9 percent stake in China's Huaxia Bank and bidding for a stake in Romanian bank BCR, which is being privatised.
"The number of affluent Indian consumers is increasing, the market for consumer goods is expanding and private customers' demand for excellent advisory services and high quality banking products continues to rise," Rainer Neske, head of retail banking at Germany's largest bank, said in a statement.
The moves may help answer criticism from some analysts that Deutsche failed to act quickly enough in its drive to expand into growth markets.
Neske said in an interview with Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper on Tuesday that Deutsche first wants to see how well these initial expansion steps work, concentrating on retail business in Europe, China and India.
"We would like to focus our attention on a few markets for the time being," Neske told the paper.
Deutsche said it was starting operations with over 400 staff for its offices in Mumbai and the other seven branches to be opened in the coming weeks.
It said it would offer a full range of products, from current and savings accounts to investment products and loans, and planned to introduce an investment and financial planning advisory service for its customers.
Deutsche announced on Monday that it had joined with German private bank Sal. Oppenheim to take a 14 percent stake in Huaxia for $329 million, their first direct investment in China's banking sector in a deal that analysts called pricey.
Huaxia and its 250 branches located mostly in the north east of China will be an ideal partner, said Neske. "By holding this stake we have reached a critical mass in the Chinese market and at the same time we have a stepping stone to advance our presence in the country," Neske told the paper.