‘Post-retirement, I would like to work in the area of micro credit’

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: ICICI has made a remarkable journey—and a relatively swift one—from a traditional term-lending institution to India’s largest bank in the private sector. Lalita Gupte, now its joint managing director and chief operations officer, has been a core part of that inspiring journey. She joined ICICI fresh out of management school and became joint MD in 1999. Among other things, she’s at the helm of its diverse global forays, which cut across the retail, corporate and technology sectors until tomorrow (Tuesday), when she finally retires. It is certain there will be requests from company boards and policymakers to share her decades of expertise. Sitanshu Swain and Sunita Jyoti speak to one of the few Indian women to be on the Forbes 50 list of most powerful women in the world. Excerpts:

Unlike other bankers who keep moving from one institution to another, you remained with ICICI Bank for many years. Why?

Of course, there were lots of offers from many institutions. But ICICI Bank is an organisation which has changed so radically in the last ten years that the opportunities to create something meaningful in the Indian economy were ample. There are very few organisations that can give one such opportunities, which enabled ICICI to change the landscape of banking in the country. It has been just amazing to be part of this process and the ICICI team.

There are very few sectors that give such opportunities in a lifetime—to create new ventures, scale up operations and transform the way we do business, with complete focus on the customer. We look for other opportunities when we do not get the satisfaction of doing something meaningful in life. But when one gets it at the same place, one doesn’t think of moving on.

How did you strike a balance between your personal and professional life, given that both are equally demanding?