BS BFSI Summit: Shaktikanta Das to T Rabi Sankar, here are the key speakers

The keynote speakers in the summit include Irdai Chairperson Debasish Panda, CEA V Anantha Nageswaran, whole-time member of Sebi Ananth Narayan G among others

Shaktikanta Das, Governor, RBI

 

Shaktikanta Das, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor, whose current term concludes in December, assumed office on December 12, 2018, as the 25th governor of India’s central bank and regulatory body responsible for overseeing the banking system.

 

Over the past six years, Das has steered the Indian central bank through uncertain times, marked by a once-in-a-century pandemic, wars in Europe, and interest rate hikes in developed countries. Despite these challenges, Das has ensured that the Indian financial system — comprising both banks and non-banking finance — emerged not only relatively unscathed but also stronger, with adequate capital and robust asset quality.

 

 

Under Das’ leadership, the RBI has built foreign exchange reserves of around $700 billion. In 2024 alone, reserves have grown by $65 billion (as of October 18), ranking second only to China among major reserve-holding economies. Meanwhile, the Indian rupee has been one of the most stable currencies, as timely interventions have minimised volatility.

 

Before his appointment at the RBI, Das served as the economic affairs secretary and India’s Group of Twenty Sherpa from November 27, 2017, to December 11, 2018.

 

Born in 1957 in Odisha, Das has an impressive educational background, having completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from Delhi University’s St Stephen’s College. He also holds a postgraduate degree in public administration from the University of Birmingham, UK.

 

Das joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1980, assigned to the Tamil Nadu cadre. He held various positions in the state government, including commissioner of commercial taxes and principal secretary of industries, before moving to the central government, where he served as joint secretary in the Ministry of Finance.

 

Looking ahead, the market will closely observe how the central bank addresses growth challenges amid occasional food inflation spikes. Following a period of inflationary challenges during the pandemic and war years, the RBI has successfully brought inflation within the tolerance band of 2-6 per cent. The RBI is focused on achieving a durable inflation target of 4 per cent.

 

Recently, Das received an A+ grade in the Central Bank Report Cards 2024, marking his second consecutive year of recognition. The award was presented by Global Finance in Washington, DC. Since 1994, Global Finance has published the report annually.

 

Debasish Panda, Chairperson, Irdai

 

Debasish Panda, since becoming chairperson of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) in March 2022, has steered the insurance industry through transformative changes.

 

In just two years under his leadership, six new entrants have joined the industry — marking the first additions in the life insurance segment in over a decade, and the first in the general and health insurance segments in nearly five years.

 

But Panda wants more.

 

He has emphasised that 70 insurance companies are insufficient to meet the needs of India’s 1.4 billion people. He has encouraged a diverse range of investors, including private equity firms, venture capitalists, domestic institutional investors, and conglomerates, to invest in the insurance sector.

 

Amid his reforms, Panda has made a pivotal change in the life insurance sector, despite facing strong resistance. He has increased first-year surrender charges for customers who opt to voluntarily exit their policies.

 

To tackle low insurance penetration, Panda has set an ambitious goal: ‘Insurance for All by 2047’. This vision seeks to address the country’s significant insurance underpenetration.

 

He has also floated the concept of ‘Bima Trinity’, which includes Bima Sugam as a marketplace, Bima Vahak as a women-centric agency force in rural areas, and Bima Vistaar — a comprehensive product that combines personal, life, and property insurance. He has also introduced various measures to reduce the compliance burden on insurance companies. Before joining Irdai, Panda was secretary of the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, until his retirement in 2022.

 

T Rabi Sankar, Deputy Governor, RBI

 

T  Rabi Sankar is the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He was appointed RBI deputy governor in May 2021 and reappointed for another year starting May 3, 2024. His extensive career at RBI spans over three decades; he joined the central bank in 1990 and has held various pivotal roles in multiple departments.

 

Before his elevation to deputy governor, he served as executive director, overseeing the Departments of Payment and Settlement System, Information Technology, Fintech, and Risk Monitoring. In these roles, he contributed significantly to strengthening India’s financial system infrastructure, particularly in areas related to digital payments, technology, and risk management.

 

Sankar’s expertise extends beyond RBI; he worked as a consultant for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2005 to 2011, focusing on developing government bond markets and debt management strategies.

 

Additionally, he is the chairman of the Indian Financial Technology & Allied Services and serves on the board of directors of the Reserve Bank Information Technology (ReBIT) and the governing council of the Institute for Development & Research in Banking Technology. His academic foundation includes a master of philosophy in economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University.

 

Known for his in-depth understanding of financial markets, Sankar has managed areas such as exchange rates, reserve portfolios, and public debt management.

 

V Anantha Nageswaran, CEA, Govt of India

 

A writer, author and teacher, V Anantha Nageswaran became the chief economic advisor (CEA) to the Government of India in January 2022. As CEA, Nageswaran is one of the closest advisors to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. He brings out the annual Economic Survey ahead of the Union Budget.

 

Nageswaran was at the forefront of finance track discussions and represented India during the G20 presidency.

 

He has taught at several business schools in India and in Singapore and has published extensively. He was the dean of the Institute for Financial Management and Research Graduate School of Business and a distinguished visiting professor of economics at Krea University. He was a part-time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India from 2019 to 2021. He holds a post-graduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and a doctoral degree from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

 

Before his academic career, Nageswaran worked in the private sector for nearly 17 years. He was currency economist at the Union Bank of Switzerland; head of research and investment consulting in Credit Suisse Private Banking in Asia; head of Asia research, and global chief investment officer at Bank Julius Baer.

 

His co-authored books, ‘Economics of Derivatives’ and ‘Derivatives’, were published by the Cambridge University Press in March 2015 and October 2017, respectively. Another co-authored work, ‘Can India grow?’ was published by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in November 2016.

 

Ananth Narayan G, whole-time member, Sebi

 

Ananth Narayan Gopalkrishnan took charge as whole-time member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in October 2022. His appointment to the key post at Sebi follows over two decades of experience in the finance and banking industry, where he worked at global marquee institutions like Citibank, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered Bank. At Sebi, Narayan handles important portfolios such as foreign portfolio investments, alternative investment funds and market regulation. He has played a key role in developing the new derivatives trading framework. Before assuming charge at Sebi, Narayan was an associate professor at Mumbai’s SP Jain Institute of Management and Research for nearly five years. He also served as a member of various advisory committees constituted by Sebi and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Narayan completed his post-graduate diploma in management from Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow in 1993 and has since been an active member in the financial market space. He did his graduation in Bachelor of Technology (electrical engineering) from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay. At Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2024, Narayan will be delivering a keynote address.

 

C S Setty, Chairman, SBI

 

C S Setty took charge of the country’s largest bank in August, succeeding Dinesh Khara. Endowed with the bank's healthy financial and credit profile, he is focusing on its balance sheet and customer service.

 

Before occupying the corner office, he was managing director (MD) at the bank and looked after international banking, global markets and technology. Prior to this, he handled the retail and  digital banking portfolio.

 

With digital platforms becoming the backbone of banking, his experience in evolving super app YONO will come handy to navigate complex technology-intensive operations.

 

Connecting with technologically-savvy young Indians to expand SBI’s customer base is his priority in the long term. His attention in the immediate time horizon is protecting margins and managing stress in some segments of the retail sector.

 

As SBI is regarded as a proxy for the Indian economy, supporting capital expenditure for growth is also one of his key near-term priorities.

 

A bachelor of science in agriculture and also a certified associate of Indian Institute of Bankers, Setty started his career with SBI in 1988 as a probationary officer. Across a career spanning over three decades, he has gained experience in corporate credit, retail banking and banking in developed markets. Before being promoted as MD in 2020, Setty led the stressed assets resolution group of the bank. He was responsible for resolving stressed assets across the country in various sectors

 

Setty has held key positions in SBI, including chief general manager and general manager of the corporate accounts group, deputy general manager at the commercial branch, Indore, and vice-president and head (syndications) in SBI, New York.

 

K V Kamath, independent director and non-executive chairman, Jio Financial Services

 

Veteran banker Kundapur Vaman Kamath (K V Kamath), independent director and non-executive chairman of Jio Financial Services, started his career with Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) in the project finance division in 1971.

 

In 1988, he moved to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and spent several years in Southeast Asia. He has worked in India, China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam and the Philippines. He had served as a representative of ADB on the boards of several companies.

 

He returned to ICICI as its managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) in 1996. Under his leadership, ICICI Bank transformed itself into a diversified, technology-driven financial services group across banking, insurance, and asset management in India with a global presence.

 

He retired as MD and CEO in 2009 and continued as chairman of ICICI Bank until 2015.

 

In 2015, he assumed charge as the first president of the New Development Bank set up by BRICS countries. Kamath has served as the chairman of Infosys. In 2008, Kamath was awarded the Padma Bhushan.

 

He has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, and a post graduate diploma in management from IIM Ahmedabad.

 

Shashank Kumar, Co-Founder and MD, Razorpay

 

Shashank Kumar founded Razorpay, along with Harshil Mathur, after discovering the dismal state of online payments in India. He graduated from IIT Roorkee and before becoming an entrepreneur with Razorpay; Shashank worked with Microsoft US as a software developer.

 

With the goal to change the way online payments function in India, Shashank quit his full-time job. By early 2014, Razorpay was conceptualised with a vision to simplify online payments. Razorpay is one of the only two India-focused companies to be selected for Y Combinator, a Silicon Valley incubator of startups. Razorpay has over the years acquired eight companies, each giving it access to markets or building its capabilities in newer segments. The company made its first international acquisition last year by buying Malaysia’s Curlec.

 

Razorpay has been charting exponential growth since its inception. The company powers digital payments for millions of businesses including the likes of Facebook, Airtel, BookMyShow, Lenskart, Indian Oil, National Pension System, Tata Consultancy Services, Ola, Zomato, Swiggy, Cred, ICICI Prudential among others. The company aims to solidify its position as one of the largest full-stack fintech firms in India.

 

Shashank has been ranked in Economic Times ‘40 under 40’ list of India's top business leaders. He was among Best New Age Entrepreneurs of the Asian Center of Corporate Governance in 2024. He won the EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2022 and recognised under Forbes ‘30 Under 30 ASIA class of 2021’; Entrepreneur magazine’s ‘Top 35 Under 35’ entrepreneurs in 2021; 30 promising young Indian talent under the age of 30 in 2021 by Forbes, ‘40 under 40’ by Fortune India in 2021. He also featured in LinkedIn’s Power Profiles in India (technology) in 2017 & 2018.

 

Nitin Chugh, deputy MD, SBI

 

Nitin Chugh joined State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, in March 2022 as deputy managing director (MD) to drive digital banking operations and customer acquisitions through digital channels. At present he is engaged in rolling out SBI’s refurbished digital banking platform called You Only Need One (YONO). Another high profile assignment Chugh is involved in is building SBI’s own version of the ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot.

 

Prior to his appointment with the public sector bank, he was chief executive of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank. During a 22-month stint with the small finance bank, he established a digital and technology backbone and improved performance across financial and non-financial parameters.

 

Chugh has had a long innings with HDFC Bank the largest private sector lender where he oversaw its digital transformation between 2013-2019. Prior to HDFC Bank, he was with Standard Chartered Bank where he primarily worked in vehicle finance. His early career saw stints with HCL HP and Xerox Corporation in various managerial and sales roles.

 

With over 25 years of career in banking, Chugh has experience in retail banking sales and distribution (credit cards, retail assets, branch and phone banking), virtual relationship management and digital banking. He holds a Bachelor of Technology degree and has a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management.

 

Devina Mehra, Founder, Chairperson & MD, First Global

 

Devina Mehra is the chairperson and managing director of First Global, which she founded more than 30 years ago. She is a gold medallist from IIM Ahmedabad, one of the only two women in the institute’s 55-year-plus history to achieve that. At Lucknow University, she broke several records and got eight gold medals.

 

She led First Global's globalisation 25 years ago, making it the first Asian (ex-Japan) company to become a member of the London Stock Exchange in 1999 and then the NASD in the United States. Led by Mehra, First Global manages more than $700 million in assets in India and abroad by using a model that uses human insights, artificial intelligence and machine learning.

 

She has been quoted widely on global and Indian markets by the ‘Wall Street Journal’, ‘Barron's’, ‘Business Week’, ‘Fortune’, ‘Forbes, CNBC’ and ‘Financial Times’. Alan Abelson, a columnist at Barron’s, called First Global research “credible...and often, much more than that”.

 

Mehra was named among the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business by ‘Fortune magazine’ in 2022. Some of her major calls in global markets were identifying the cash flow turnaround in Amazon at a price of $15 and highlighting the accounting shenanigans in Worldcom and Enron well ahead of the scandals. In India, her most memorable call was on HDFC Bank in 1996. As a research head and global strategist, she has over the decades identified many turning points in the markets.