P Nandakumaran has recently been appointed Managing Director of State Bank of Travancore (SBT) early this week.
Nandakumaran was responsible for State Bank of India’s aggressive personal banking as well as home loan business strategy, so growing market share should not be too onerous a task for this SBI star. Nandakumaran began his banking career in 1975 as a probationary officer in State Bank of India. While starting off as a small and medium enterprise specialist, he has had stints across various functional groups. He worked as Assistant General Manager at the Treasury Department, Mumbai and later moved to Canada on a four-year posting to work with SBI’s overseas operations. He was President and Chief Executive Officer, SBI, Toronto.
In India, he headed up networks in Orissa as a General Manager. On promotion as chief general manager, Nandakumaran was a key executive responsible for increasing the market share in assets as well as liabilities at SBI’s personal banking business. As grooming for an eventual role as a bank head, he was sent to the Gujarat circle whose volume he grew to an outstanding Rs 87,000 crore.
Now, working out of Thiruvananthapuram, headquarters of SBT, Nandakumaran’s priority is to maintain leadership in retail and SME space and build on business, especially gulf-based ones. Though very much an advocate of consolidation within SBI group, he is keenly aware of regional identity, which is often important for procuring business. South Indian music is his passion—in fact, his mobile carried a south Indian instrumental tune until this SBI senior staff moved to a group signature ring tone.
