Born on November 17, 1961, Chanda Kochhar took over the helm of India’s second largest bank ICICI Bank as the managing director and chief executive officer in May 2009. Kochhar also heads the corporate centre of ICICI Bank. According to its Chief Human Resources, N Ramkumar, who has worked with Chanda Kochhar for 10 years, said, “Chanda Kochhar, Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector bank, could even "command an army.”
Early Life and education
Chanda Kochhar was born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan and raised in Jaipur, Rajasthan. She then moved to Mumbai, where she joined Jai Hind College for Bachelor of Arts degree. After graduating in 1982, she then pursued Cost Accountancy ICWAI, and she also acquired the Masters Degree in Management Studies from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai. Chanda Kochhar resides in Mumbai and is married to Deepak Kochhar, a wind energy entrepreneur. She has two children, a son and a daughter.
Career highlights
1984-1993
In 1984, Chanda Kochhar joined The Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India Ltd or ICICI Ltd as a management trainee post her Masters. In her early years in ICICI, she handled project appraisal, monitoring and projects in sectors like textile, petrochemicals, paper and cement.
1993-2006
Chanda Kochhar was sent to ICICI Bank as part of the core team to set the bank in 1993. She was then 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. 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 was in charge of 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 ICICI Bank.
2006-present
The institution, India’s largest bank, ICICI Bank had previously experienced fast growth but now required rapid change. Kochhar quickly launched a transformation to rebalance the bank’s mix of loans and funding and to cut its operating and credit costs. 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 was in charge of the International and Corporate businesses of ICICI Bank. From 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, Joint Managing Director (JMD) and the official spokesperson. Chanda Kochhar is also a director of different ICICI group companies. Besides, she is also the chairperson of ICICI Bank Eurasia Limited Liability Company and ICICI Investment Management Company Limited. She is also a director in ICICI International Limited and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd and part of the Governing Council in 1964. Now, Chanda Kochhar is the CEO and MD of ICICI Bank from May 2009 for a period of 5 years. She succeeds KV Kamath who was the CEO of the bank since 1996.
Awards and recognition
2011
v Chanda Kocchar was with the Padma Bhushan one of India’s highest civilian honour
v She also secured the global leadership award for her contribution to the US-India commercial relationship
v All India Management Association (AIMA) named her the “Transformational Business Leader of the Year”.
v American research firm, Penn Schoen Berland ranked her as the 5th most recognized and respected company leader. The survey was conducted among 600 respondents from US. EU, Asia-Pacific and India in March
v India today ranked Kocchar 41st in the 50 Power List 2011 and also named her in the list of 25 most powerful professional women of the country.
2010
v Financial Times ranked Chanda Kocchar 11th in the Top 50 women in world business
v Conferred with the “Outstanding Woman Business Leader of the Year” award by CNBC TV18, 2010
v Conferred with the “Banker of the Y ear Award” by Financial Express
v Ranked 92nd in the Forbes list of most powerful women in the world
v Ranked 10th in the Fortune’s list of most powerful women in business
v Conferred with the “Transformational Business Leader of the Year,” by All India Management Association (AIMA)
v Featured in the list of 30 most powerful women leaders, in Business Today for 8 consecutive years from 2002 to 2010.
