ICICI Bank's Sandeep Bakhshi is Business Standard Banker of the Year

5-member jury chooses him for turning around the private sector lender

Sandeep Bakhshi, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of ICICI Bank, is the Business Standard Banker of the Year 2020-21 for turning around the private sector lender and changing the perception about it during his tenure of the past three and a half years.

Bakhshi took charge in October 2018 amid a controversy around his predecessor, who had to step down over corporate governance issues. Since then, he has not just unhinged the bank from the controversy but also delivered growth on almost all parameters.

The second-largest private sector lender in the country is well-capitalised.

The unanimous decision was taken by a high-profile jury of five, chaired by former Reserve Bank of India deputy governor S S Mundra. Other members were Keki Mistry, vice-chairman and CEO of Housing Development Finance Corporation; Anil Singhvi, chairman of Ican Investment Advisors; P S Jayakumar, former MD and CEO of Bank of Baroda who is also non-executive chairman of VBHC Value Homes and Northern ARC Capital; and A Balasubramanian, MD and CEO of Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC.

For the second year in succession, the jury met through videoconference to finalise the winner — a departure from the past because of the pandemic.

The criteria used for selecting the contenders were the following: i) banks with an asset size of Rs 50,000 crore and above as of March 2021, and ii) 10 per cent or more growth in profits prior to provisioning in the past one-, two- and three-year periods. Only 10 banks qualified, and that was further brought down to seven.

The jury discussed the financials of the seven banks, and narrowed down its choice to three after reckoning on their quantitative aspects. Discussions were on matters such as governance, recent events, HR practices, the regulatory stance, innovative practices, and technology prowess. Finally, the choice was between two banks.

While the institutions under both the leaders in the final round had registered strong performance, what clinched the decision in favour of Bakhshi was turning around the bank after inheriting a difficult legacy.

“He inherited a difficult legacy but steadied the ship over the course of the last few years with a mature leadership as against the other contender who took over a stable organisation during the year. The bank showed an improving trend on most of the parameters over the past three years. This is against almost a status quo in the other case,” Mundra said, while congratulating Bakhshi.

Bakhshi is credited with reviving the organisational morale also and bringing in a collaborative management leadership, the jury members concurred.

The banker has been with ICICI Group since 1986 and handled assignments across the group in ICICI Ltd, ICICI Lombard General Insurance, ICICI Bank, and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. After steering the bank out of a difficult phase, Bakhshi has received an extension till October next year.

For 2020-21, ICICI Bank reported a net profit of Rs 16,193 crore against Rs 7,931 crore during the previous financial year.

Its loan portfolio grew 13.7 per cent year-on-year to Rs 7.34 trillion while deposits went up by 21 per cent year-on-year to Rs 9.33 trillion. As on March 31, 2021, the bank’s gross non-performing assets fell to Rs 41,373 crore, which were 4.96 per cent of gross advances, from Rs 41,409 crore, or 5.53 per cent of gross advances of the previous year.