NEW DELHI: Dinesh Kumar Khara, Managing Director of the State Bank of India, couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present.
The day he turned 59 the Bureau of the Bank Board, the selection panel for the best positions in the state lenders, recommended Khara as their first choice candidate to succeed Rajnish kumar as president of the bank. Kumar will retire in October and it was predicted that he would get an extension, although the possibility is not completely ruled out.
Following the interviews, BBB led by former union personnel secretary Bhanu Pratap Sharma has also said that CS Setty, another MD at the country’s largest bank, is the second choice. Setty will get a second chance at the top spot after Khara retires.
The final decision on Khara’s candidacy will be made by the cabinet appointments committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The position of president of the SBI is the most coveted job in the financial services sector, with the bank controlling about a quarter of the loan and deposit business in the country. Unlike the other state lenders, the job is the monopoly of SBI employees who join as officer on probation and rank up.
In 1984, Khara also started as a probationary officer after graduating in commerce. He also has an MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies at the University of Delhi. Officer of the Delhi circle, he has held various positions and has also headed the Bhopal circle. He has also worked in Chicago and oversaw the merger of five associates and Bhartiya Mahila bench with SBI. He was also the head of SBI Mutual Fund and SBI General. At SBI MF, Khara is credited with driving the business and helping expand the asset management business, which had been stagnant for nearly a decade.
He assumed the role of MD from SBI in August 2016 and was given an extended two-year term. He is currently the highest ranking doctor.
Khara has her homework cut as banks will have to deal with a massive amount of bad debt in the coming months, yet make sure businesses don’t run out of credit.
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