Chanda Kochhar, 47, CEO & MD, ICICI Bank

She heads the country's second-largest commercial bank, which boasts of an asset base of Rs 3.6 lakh crore. The journey for Chanda Kochhar, who is a diehard fan of Bollywood movies and also loves to go on shopping sprees (mostly saris), hasn't been a bed of roses. She joined the bank as a regular management trainee and toiled hard for 25 years to rise through the ranks to step into visionary K.V. Kamath's shoes . In fact, within minutes of taking over from Kamath in May this year when the global financial crisis was burning, Kochhar said: "I don't regret the timing at all. Today, this alumnus of Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management is navigating the bank through tough times.

"We are using the current year to position our balance sheet to take advantage of the next phase of growth, says Kochhar, who aims to increase the bank's branch network from 1,520 to 2,000-plus branches. She is focussed on strengthening the deposit franchise to garner low-cost deposits, maintaining a high level of capitalisation and strengthening the risk management system.
All this will prepare ICICI Bank for high growth when the good times are back.

Once again in the BT Power List. Does it still enthuse you?
I definitely feel honoured to be part of this list once again. However, it also reminds me that there is a huge responsibility that I am carrying on my shoulders.

New lessons learnt in 2009.
Being nimble-footed. It is important to be in a position to reorient strategies.

New frontiers conquered in 2009.
For ICICI Bank, the current year is a time of consolidation. We have focussed on capital conversion, risk containment and efficiency improvement.

What next?
This year, the world's economic growth will be led by India. Indian banks will play a much bigger role. - Anand Adhikari

Resource: Business Today