Rajnish Kumar appointed as new chairman of country’s largest public sector bank State Bank of India (SBI). He will replace Arundhati Bhattacharya who completes her one-year extended term on Friday.
Rajnish Kumar, who is currently the managing director of SBI, faces the daunting task of addressing the issue of huge NPAs of the bank.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved Kumar’s appointment for a period of three years from the date of taking over the charge on or after October 7, said an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
About Rajnish Kumar : Who is Rajnish Kumar, new SBI Chief ?
- Rajnish Kumar, aged 59 years, has been the Managing Director of State Bank of India since May 26, 2015, and serves as its Group Executive of National Banking Group.
- Prior to this appointment, he was Managing Director – Compliance and Risk, and Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of SBI Capital Markets Limited, the merchant banking arm of SBI, according to his official biodata.
- Kumar has also worked as Chief General Manager, Project Finance and Leasing Strategic Business Unit, it said. He has held several key assignments across various business verticals, including two overseas assignments in Canada and the UK.
- He has been with the State Bank of India for over three decades, having joined SBI as a Probationary Officer in 1980. He has experience in handling large credit, project finance, foreign exchange and retail banking.
State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Travancore and Bharatiya Mahila Bank merged with SBI on April 1, 2017.
Gross NPAs of the public sector banks rose to Rs 6.41 lakh crore at the end of March 2017 as against Rs 5.02 lakh crore a year ago, according to a Finance Ministry data.
SBI and its erstwhile associates alone wrote off Rs 27,574 crore NPAs in 2016-17, according to RBI data.
