Bandhan Bank founder, managing director and CEO Chandra Shekhar Ghosh on Friday said he will retire from his position at the end of his third tenure on July 9, 2024. He would, however, continue to have a “larger strategic” role at the bank after retirement.
“After leading the bank for almost a decade, including three consecutive tenures as MD & CEO, I feel that the time has now come for me to assume a larger strategic role at Bandhan group level. Hence, I have decided to retire from the services of Bandhan Bank at the end of my current tenure as MD & CEO, i.e. on July 9, 2024,” he said.
Bandhan Bank’s board in November 2023 approved re-appointment of Ghosh as MD and CEO for a period of three years.
In his resignation letter to the board of the bank, Ghosh said he had set up Bandhan as an NGO in 2001 to achieve the dual objectives of “women empowerment and poverty alleviation”. In 2006, Bandhan acquired an NBFC and named the entity as Bandhan Financial Services, which became the largest microfinance institution in 2010. In 2014, the Reserve Bank of India issued an in-principle approval to Bandhan Bank to become an universal commercial bank.
“The journey of the bank has not been without challenges. As a new bank, we successfully contended and surmounted the challenges posed by demonetisation in 2016, GST introduction in 2017, disruptions caused by cyclones Fani in 2019 and Amphan in 2020, socio-political challenges in a region where we had deep presence in 2021, and eventually the terrible pandemic,” he said.
“The pandemic impacted all, especially the ones who were at the bottom of the pyramid. After an extremely tough 2022-23, I am heartened to see recovery of the bank’s portfolio in 2023-24,” he added. Bandhan Bank garnered Rs 1.35 trillion in deposits and Rs 1.28 trillion in advances as on March 31, thanks to depositors’ trust, he said.