India’s largest private sector bank, HDFC Bank has appointed ex-CEC Rajiv Kumar as its part-time Chairman. The appointment, which was subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals, comes after the bank’s determination to enhance the public administrator’s experience in the bank’s board. Rajiv Kumar was the 25th Chief Election Commissioner of India and faced some crucial elections in his stint.
Prior to his working as Election Commission, Kumar served in the Government of India in various senior roles such as Ministry of Finance and Department of Public Enterprises. He is renowned for his achievements in public administration, financial governance and policy making.
Kumar will help support strategic moves and recommendations for HDFC Bank’s long term sustainable governance and growth as part-time Chairman. The position is a non-executive position and primarily a role with oversight responsibilities, not day-to-day executive responsibilities.
With HDFC Bank strengthening its corporate governance after the merger with HDFC Ltd, industry experts feel that Kumar’s rich experience in administration- regulatory matters could be instrumental in boosting the bank’s corporate governance standards further.
With current leadership, the HDFC Bank owes its market capitalisation to being the largest private lender in India and has been announced as the focus would be on growing its core business of digital banking, retail lending and financial ecosystem.