Chanda Kochhar

Chanda Kochhar (born November 17, 1961) is currently the Managing Director (MD) of ICICI Bank and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). ICICI Bank is India's largest private bank and overall fourth largest bank in the country. She also heads the Corporate Centre of ICICI Bank. Kochhar has also consistently figured in Fortune's list of "Most Powerful Women in Business" since 2005. In 2009, she debuted at number 20 in the Forbes "World's 100 Most Powerful Women list".

Early life

Chanda Kochhar was born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan and raised in Jaipur, Rajasthan. She then moved to Mumbai, where she joined Jai Hind College for a Bachelor of Arts degree. After graduating in 1982 she then pursued MBA and Cost Accountancy(ICWAI). Later, she acquired the Masters Degree in Management Studies from the prestigious Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai. She received the Wockhardt Gold Medal for Excellence in Management Studies as well as the J. N. Bose Gold Medal in Cost Accountancy for highest marks in the same year.

Career

1984–1993

In 1984, Chanda Kochhar joined "The Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India Ltd" or ICICI Ltd. as a Management trainee after her Masters. In her early years in ICICI, she handled Project Appraisal and Monitoring and projects in various industries like Petrochemicals, Textile, Paper and Cement.

1993–2006

In 1993, Kochhar was sent to ICICI bank as part of a core team to set the bank. She was promoted to Assistant General Manager in 1994 and then to Deputy General Manager in 1996. In 1996, Kochhar headed the newly formed the Infrastructure Industry Group of ICICI, which aimed "to create dedicated industry expertise in the areas of Power, Telecom and Transportation". In 1998, she was promoted as the General Manager and headed ICICI's “Major Client Group”, which handled relationships with ICICI's top 200 clients. In 1999, she also handled the Strategy and E-commerce divisions of ICICI. Under Kochhar's leadership, ICICI bank started the Retail business in July 2000 and emerged the largest retail financer in India, in the next five years. In April 2001, she took over as Executive Director, heading the in ICICI Bank.

2006–present

In April 2006, Chanda Kochhar was appointed as Deputy Managing Director of ICICI Bank. She managed the Corporate and Retail banking business of ICICI Bank. From October 2006 to October 2007, she handled the International and Corporate businesses of ICICI Bank. From October 2007 to April 2009, Kochhar was also the bank's Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Joint Managing Director (JMD) and the official spokesperson. She also headed the Corporate Centre of ICICI Bank. She is also a director of different ICICI group companies. She is the chairperson of ICICI Bank Eurasia Limited Liability Company and ICICI Investment Management Company Limited. Kochhar is the Vice-Chairperson of ICICI Bank UK PLC and ICICI Bank Canada. She is a director in ICICI International Limited and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd. and part of the Governing Council in The ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth-Member.

Kochhar is CEO and MD of ICICI Bank from May 2009 for a period of five years. She succeeds K. V. Kamath, who was CEO of the bank since 1996.

Recognition

Under Kochhar's leadership, ICICI Bank won the “Best Retail Bank in India” award in 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2005 and “Excellence in Retail Banking Award” in 2002; both awards were given by the The Asian Banker. Kochhar personally was awarded "Retail Banker of the Year 2004 (Asia-Pacific region)" by the Asian Banker, "Business Woman of the Year 2005" by The Economic Times and "Rising Star Award" for Global Awards 2006 by Retail Banker International. Kochhar has also consistently figured in Fortune's list of "Most Powerful Women in Business" since 2005. She climbed up the list debuting with the 47th position in 2005, moving up 10 spots to 37 in 2006 and then to 33 in 2007.In the 2008 list, Kochhar features at the 25th spot. In 2009, she debuted at number 20 in the Forbes "World's 100 Most Powerful Women list". She is the second Indian in the list behind the ruling Indian National Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi at number 13.

Personal life

Kochhar currently resides in Mumbai, and is married. She has two children, a son and a daughter