India’s Women Bankers At The Helm

Friends, today in our 6th and last part of Women’s Week Series, we talk about Top Women Bankers of India. This influential list inspires all and specifically all aspiring businesswomen who want to leave a mark for themselves. Here is a list of India’s most powerful women bankers, who are shaping India’s future.

Women Bankers Ruling The Chart

State Bank of India's chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya, ICICI Bank's chief Chanda Kochhar and Axis Bank CEO Shikha Sharma have been ranked in the top twenty of the '50 Most Powerful Women International' list released by Fortune.

The list, which considered women based outside the US, placed Bhattacharya at the second spot while Kochhar was ranked at fifth. Sharma was on 19th position. Also, Eurozone's largest bank by market value, Banco Santander's Group Executive Chairman Ana Botin topped the list.

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What Makes Them Top Leaders

Arundhati Bhattacharya, SBI Chief

Ms Bhattacharya is the first women to head SBI in its 207-year history. She joined SBI as a direct recruit officer in 1977 and in her over three decades of service; she has held various assignments spanning credit, forex, treasury and retail operations.

Elaborating the profile of SBI chief, Fortune said: "Bhattacharya's profile has risen during her three-year tenure atop India's largest bank, a 210-year-old institution."

The SBI Chairperson, who was speculated to succeed Raghuram Rajan, as governor of the Reserve Bank of India, orchestrated SBI's merger with six other groups. Once the merger completes, the bank will become one of largest lenders in Asia.

"She has continued her high-profile battle with the bank's bad loans, while courting overseas partners invest in the stressed assets," Fortune said.

She was involved in setting up several new units of the bank, including SBI General Insurance, SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Fund, SBI SG Securities Ltd as well as the launch of new IT platforms such as mobile banking and financial planning in the bank.

Chanda Kochhar, ICICI Bank's Managing Director and CEO

Chanda Kochhar is the managing director and chief executive officer of ICICI Bank, India's second-largest bank and the largest in the private sector. She began her career, with erstwhile ICICI Limited in 1984 and was elevated to the Board of Directors of ICICI Bank in 2001. She was instrumental in establishing ICICI Bank during the 1990s.

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Beside, ICICI Bank's Managing Director and CEO Kochhar was acknowledged as a "visionary" even by rival bankers.

"After seven years at the helm of India's largest private sector lender, with consolidated assets of $139 billion, Kochhar has overhauled the nation's consumer retail business," Fortune said while highlighting her effort to augment the bank's performance.

Though bad loans eroded income growth this year, she has engaged turnaround experts to help ditch those distressed assets, it said.

Shikha Sharma, Axis Bank CEO

Shikha Sharma is the managing director & CEO of Axis Bank since 2009. She began her career with the ICICI group where she has worked across various verticals like project finance, retail banking and investment banking. Her last assignment was as managing director & CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company.

Acknowledging Sharma's contribution to the private lender, Fortune said: "Sharma has grown Axis from an underrepresented bank to the nation's fastest growing private sector lender, with revenue up 15 per- cent to $7.9 billion in 2015 and nearly 3000 branches across 1,800 cities and towns."

In May, Sharma issued a $500 million green bond at the London Stock Exchange - Asia's first such certified bond in support of green energy and environmentally friendly projects. It was oversubscribed twice, it said.

Other Prominent Names

Women are playing a pivotal role in India’s banking sector. There is a growing list of Women who are decision makers at major banks. Naina Lal Kidwai ,country head of HSBC India; Kalpana Morparia, chief executive officer of

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J.P. Morgan India; Archana Bhargava, chairperson and managing director of United Bank of India; Vijayalakshmi Iyer, chairperson and managing director of Bank of India; and many more illustrious names.

The sector has had a large number of women at the helm of affairs with several women CEOs. Organizations that have helped women at the early stages of their careers have seen women stick around for a longer time. This has helped them migrating up to the top level management and eventually being the Head of the bank.

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