Union minister of state for skill development & entrepreneurship; and electronics & IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar will be the Chief Guest at the FE Best Banks Awards in the country’s financial capital on Friday. The minister will preside over the ceremony to be attended by leading lights of the financial and corporate sectors.
An entrepreneur-turned politician and policy-maker, Chandrasekhar has theoretical as well as practical knowledge of the entire gamut of technology. A former chip designer, who was among the first breed of entrepreneurs to run a mobile business when the sector was thrown open to private players, he has been at the forefront of digital rights and privacy. He was among the first to take up the cause of data privacy and when the government decided to draft afresh the Data Protection Bill, he took keen interest in its drafting so that it remains lucid and achieves its purpose.
He is currently engaged in encouraging global players to set up chip manufacturing plants in the country. The next big thing on which his ministry is working is the Digital India Bill, which will replace the 23-year-old Information Technology Act. Chandrasekhar is not an absolutist when it comes to tech laws. According to him, there’s no final and absolute position on matters related to tech. All one needs is to put in place a logical framework, which can be continuously improvised to meet the needs of the times, which constantly keeps evolving.
One of the highlights of the function will be a fireside chat with KV Kamath, NabFID chairman. Kamath, who has had an illustrious career having worked with leading institutions in India and overseas, will share his insights into the world of finance.
As in the last two decades, the FE Best Banks Awards will celebrate the success of stand-out performances by banks, non-bank financial companies, small finance banks and fintechs. The awards will also recognise the work of individuals who are the scriptwriters of the success of India’s financial sector success story.
Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, who created Bandhan Bank from a microfinance institution, will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award. The Banker of the Year for 2021-22 is Dipak Gupta, now the managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank. The jury noted Gupta’s role in driving the business post-pandemic which enabled the lender to forge ahead of competition in many areas. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) was picked by the jury for it exemplary performance in furthering the country’s payments ecosystem.
The other winners include Bank of Maharashtra, HDFC Bank, Citi India, Bajaj Finance, IDFC First Bank, AU small Finance, Bank of Baroda, Zerodha, PhonePe, Fintellix, Lentra.ai and Acko.
The jury was chaired by S Ramadorai, former vice chairman, TCS; and comprised R Shankar Raman, director, Larsen &Toubro; Amit Chandra, chairman, Bain Capital; Biswamohan Mahapatra, former ED, Reserve Bank of India and chairman, NPCI; and Sharad Sharma, Founder I Spirt. EY was the knowledge partner and put together the data and information for the jury.