Who is Chanda Kochhar

She is the former managing director and chief executive officer of Icici Bank. She is widely recognised for her role in shaping retail banking in India.

She was managing director and chief executive officer of the bank since 2009.

Controversy and infamy

The first controversy arose when independent activist and whistle-blower Arvind Gupta alleged that the Ruia brothers of the Essar group got undue favours from the ICICI Bank for ’round-tripping’ investments into Kochhar’s husband’s NuPower Group. But this did not initiate any action from the Bank or the government.

The second allegation came in 2016, which brought about the present situation. An anonymous whistle-blower alleged that Kochhar favoured Videocon Group in lending practices. ICICI Bank said it has decided to institute an independent enquiry into the allegations.

On March 28, 2018, ICICI Bank chairman M K Sharma revealed that Chanda Kochhar was part of the credit committee which sanctioned the Rs 3,250-crore loan to Videocon Group.

Dhoot formed a JV with Deepak Kochhar and transferred ownership of the company to a trust headed by Kochhar for just Rs 9 lakhs. Dhoot then gave the company a loan of Rs 64 cr. The transfer happened 6 months after the Videocon Group got a Rs 3,250-crore loan from ICICI Bank. The Videocon account was declared a Non Performing Asset in 2017, and 86 per cent of the loan remained unpaid.

Also read: Chanda Kochhar quits ICICI Bank, Sandeep Bakshi appointed new CEO

Amidst the investigation on dealings between her husband and Videocon promoter Venugopal Dhoot, which the bank said raised concerns of conflict of interest, she was forced to take indefinite leave.

She stepped down from her position as Managing director and CEO of ICICI Bank on 4th October 2018.

But, is it over for her. She is very powerful with global reach and reputation. Here is just how much powerful she is. 

# Chanda Kochhar was ranked 5th in Fortune’s list of ‘Most Powerful Women in business outside the U.S’ in 2017.

# In 2017, she was featured in Business World magazine’s ‘BW’s Most Influential Women’ list as an evergreen woman leader.

# In 2009, she debuted at number 20 in the Forbes “World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list”.

# Kochhar was ranked as the most powerful businesswoman in India in Forbes’ list of ‘The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women 2013’.

# Kochhar was selected in Time magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World 2015.

# In 2015, she was ranked first in the Fortune List of 100 Most Powerful Women in Asia Pacific.

Recognitions and awards

# Kochhar was awarded “Retail Banker of the Year 2004 (Asia-Pacific region)” by the Asian Banker, “Business Woman of the Year 2005” by The Economic Times and “Rising Star Award” for Global Awards 2006 by Retail Banker International.

# Kochhar is a member of the India–Russia Business Leaders Forum and the US-India CEO Forum.

# She was the president of the International Monetary Conference, an organisation that annually brings together the chief executives of approximately 70 of the world’s largest financial institutions from 30 countries, along with officials from government institutions in 2015–16.

# Kochhar has been a member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade & Industry, the Board of Trade and High-Level Committee on Financing Infrastructure.

# She was conferred with the Padma Bhushan, India’s 3rd highest civilian honours, in 2011.

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