HDFC Bank's Sashidhar Jagdishan is 'BS Banker of the Year 2022'

5-member jury picks him for bank's good performance under his leadership

Sashidhar Jagdishan, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of HDFC Bank, has been chosen as the Business Standard Banker of the Year 2022, as the lender continued its strong performance under his leadership while successfully navigating through technology-related challenges.

An eminent five-member jury, chaired by former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor S S Mundra, picked the CEO of the largest private sector bank of the country as the winner. The other jury members were Vice Chairman and CEO of HDFC Limited Keki Mistry, Ican Investment Advisors Chairman Anil Singhvi, Aditya Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company MD and CEO A Balasubramanian, and former MD and CEO of Bank of Baroda P S Jayakumar. Mistry, however, recused himself from the deliberations around group concern HDFC Bank.

Known to his colleagues as Sashi, Jagdishan took charge of HDFC Bank on October 27, 2020, after his illustrious predecessor Aditya Puri demitted office upon attaining the age of 70 years – the maximum age for a CEO in a private sector bank according to the Reserve Bank of India’s norms. The banking regulator had approved Jagdishan’s appointment for a three-year period, after which he will be eligible for an extension. He will turn 58 this month.

Jagdishan’s journey in HDFC Bank started in 1996 as a manager in the finance function. 

His initial days as CEO were not smooth. Just after a month of appointment, in early December of 2020, the banking regulator barred HDFC Bank from on-boarding new credit card customers and launching new digital products due to repeated outages of the bank’s mobile and internet banking platforms. The regulatory action was a big blow to HDFC Bank, the largest credit card issuer in the country.

In a rare gesture, Jagdishan apologised to the bank customers after the RBI action and went on a war footing to plug the gaps. By the end of 2021-22, satisfied with the bank’s efforts, the banking regulator decided to lift all the bans – a testimony of his leadership during a crisis, which was also noted by the jury.

“HDFC Bank continued to register a strong financial performance, augmented shareholders’ value, and growth ratios are impressive despite a much larger base. Jagdishan navigated the bank smoothly through the technology challenges it was facing when he took over the reins,” jury chairman Mundra said. “This is also a recognition of his leadership skills,” Mundra added while congratulating Jagdishan.

For financial year 2021-22, the period under review for the award, HDFC Bank reported an 18.8 per cent increase in its net profit to Rs 36,961.3 crore, backed by an 11 per cent increase in net interest income to Rs 72,009.6 crore. The bank maintained a net interest margin of 4.0 per cent. Gross non-performing asset ratio, one of the best among Indian banks, declined to 1.17 per cent from 1.32 per cent in 2020-21. Average return on assets (ROA) was 2.03 per cent, and return of equity was 16.9 per cent.

HDFC Bank, which commanded 11.2 per cent of the loan market share and 9.5 per cent in deposits by the end of 2021-22, is the most valued lender in the country with over $100 billion market capitalisation. With over 70 million customers and 6,300 branches, the bank had a business close to Rs 30 trillion by the end of FY22 – second to the behemoth State Bank of India.

Prior to his appointment as MD and CEO of HDFC Bank, Jagdishan was the strategic change agent of the bank in addition to overseeing the functions of finance, human resources, legal & secretarial, administration, infrastructure, corporate communications and corporate social responsibility.

A chartered accountant by profession, Jagdishan completed his graduation in Science with specialisation in Physics. He also holds a Master’s degree in Economics of Money, Banking & Finance from the University of Sheffield, UK.