IDBI Bank’s
Gunit Chadha honoured
Our Banking Bureau
14 February 2002
 Mumbai:
IDBI Bank managing director and CEO Gunit Chadha has been
declared ‘The Finance Professional of the Year’ in Banking
Annual 2002, released by Business Standard on
13 February. A panel of eminent bankers, and the Business
Standard editorial board evaluated the nominations for
the award.
The award is a categorical acknowledgment of the fact that
in a short period of 15 months, since he assumed charge,
Chadha has put all the building blocks in place and created
a launching pad for IDBI Bank. He has built up a globally-skilled,
top-quality management team that can now take the bank many
steps ahead.
Despite an environment reeling from an economic slowdown,
Chadha consciously adopted an expansionary strategy. Today,
the bank has doubled its network and footprint across the
country, covering 55 cities with 75 branches and over 210
ATMs. Manpower has also grown from a modest 550 to over
1,200 in the same period.
The bank has also fully executed its new, state-of-the-art,
online, real-time technology platform across the entire
network. Customer numbers have also kept pace. IDBI Bank
has clocked over 500,000 customers now, as against 210,000
in the same period last year.
But despite an aggressive growth strategy, the bank never
lost sight of asset quality. During the same period, a massive
clean-up drive was launched and non-performing assets were
pruned ruthlessly. IDBI Bank is also probably the first
bank in India to adopt the 90 days overdue norm for classification
and provisioning of NPAs, where most banks follow the 2-quarter
norm.
Consequently, 83 per cent of the assets are rated ‘A’ or
better (on Crisil model adopted for IDBI Bank) as on 31
December 2001. The ratio of net NPAs to net customer assets
is down to 2.03 per cent from 3.4 per cent in December 2000.
And the provision cover against NPAs (including write-offs)
doubled to 54 per cent as against 26 per cent as on 31 December
2000.
Despite such significant investments in people, technology,
branch and ATM expansion and provisioning, the bank’s profitability
has grown by over 350 per cent in the current financial
year over the same period last year.
Chadha, 40, an alumnus of IIM-Ahmedabad and the Wharton
School, USA, joined IDBI Bank in August 2000 after a 17-year
stint with the Citigroup, covering senior-level profit-centre
responsibilities in India and New York.
 IDBI
Bank is India’s youngest and one of the fastest-growing
new private sector banks. Over the last one year it has
launched a blitzkrieg of initiatives that are refreshingly
different and are aimed at providing superior service and
value for money to the Indian consumer. The bank is surging
ahead from strength to strength and is fast transforming
into a technology-led, service-driven, financial services
marketing company, managed with intellectual integrity.
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