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Business Standard Banker of the year: Bandhan bank's C S Ghosh

CIOInsider Team | Thursday, 14 November, 2019
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CIOInsider Team

Bengaluru, India-November 14, 2019: Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, founder, managing director and chief executive officer of Bandhan Bank is the Business Standard Banker of the year 2018-19. It was just after he turned his Kolkata-based microfinance institution into a scheduled commercial bank.

The common decision was taken by a high profile jury of five, chaired by former deputy governor of Reserve Bank S S Mundra. Other chaired members were former chairman of State Bank of India Arundhati Bhattacharya, Vice Chairman and CEO of Housing Development Finance Corporation Keki Mistry, Investment Advisors chairman Anil Singhvi, and chief investment officer and founder of Marcellus Investment Managers Mukherjea. The jury said Gosh, 59 of them deserved the award for

an inspiring, all-rounder of the performance of the bank. The radios and highest return on assets was the best that the bank had. Only 14 banks were qualified and given an eventful year. Shortlisting three efficient candidates were comparatively easier than previous years.

From the beginning, Bandhan’s numbers were high, and the jury feared if it would be “one horse race”. But later another private sector Bank CEO appeared as a worthy competitor. The jury deliberated at length about the merits and demerits of the two banks and the banker, besides their management and leadership style. The major aspect that was looked at was the difficult environments that these banks were focusing on. “There were also the facts that there was a consistency in growth, and the bank took efforts to bring other entities into its fold to diversify its portfolio and geography. The bank was also able to maintain a low-cost model of delivery, had controlled the asset quality well, and protected its NIM while keeping a good blend of low-cost structure,” the jury chairman said.

Ghosh was appreciated for having deep knowledge about lending, having technology-focused lending operations, being a tough negotiator, and keeping the work force motivated on carrying on with banking that involved personal touch with the customers. “The jury considered the governance aspect of the various contenders and, ultimately, the vote went in favour of Bandhan Bank and C S Ghosh because the growth trajectory of the bank with almost all the ratios was quite strong and way above the competing bankers,” said Mundra, chair of the jury.

Chandra Shekhar Gosh is known to be a prudent businessman when it comes to allocating his group’s resources. He transformed Bandhan from being the largest Microfinance Institution to a full-fledged bank and successfully led it to an IPO in March last year without going on a spending spree. His achievements so far have been riding on a high-margin business model.

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