Rajnish Kumar Replaces Arundhati Bhattacharya As SBI Chief

Rajnish Kumar was on Wednesday (4 October) appointed the new chairman of the largest public sector bank State Bank of India (SBI), replacing Arundhati Bhattacharya who completes her one-year extended term on Friday.

Kumar, who is currently the managing director of SBI, faces the daunting tast 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).

Kumar, aged 59 years, joined the SBI board on May 26, 2015.

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.

A large number of banks are facing the issue of the non- performing assets.

Bhattacharya became the first woman chairperson of SBI in 2013. She was given a year's extension in October last year to ensure continuity as the SBI was then in the process of absorbing five associate banks.

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 an RBI data.