BS People: Rajeev Chalisgaonkar

Globetrotter to head StanChart's SME biz

It was home coming for this Maharashtrian banker who had hardly stayed in his native state for most of his life. Rajeev Chalisgaonkar, who took charge of Standard Chartered Bank's SME banking operations in India and South Asia last month, spent his early life in Madhya Pradesh where his father worked for the state government. Prior to this, Chalisgaonkar was heading the corporate banking team of Barclays Bank in India

Chalisgaonkar has an engineering degree in metallurgy from Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur and post graduation diploma in finance and marketing management from Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata (IIM-C).

He started his career with Export Import (EXIM) Bank of India in 1994 and was instrumental in setting up the bank's Central Europe office in Budapest, Hungary. Chalisgaonkar then joined Citibank and spent almost a decade working in the bank's commercial and retail banking divisions in Europe.

The overseas postings gelled well with his passion for globetrotting. Chalisgaonkar proudly says that he has stayed in some of the exotic locations around the globe and his passport has stamps of 60-65 countries. In fact, he joined Standard Chartered Bank after returning from a trek to the Himalayas.

What keeps Rajeev in shape? “Every morning I go to swim. While driving to work I listen to music – Indian classical, western classical, jazz. And I read quite a lot,” he adds. No doubt, recipe for a successful career.