India’s SBI appoints Dinesh Khara as it’s new Chairman

By Priyanka Pani

India’s largest public sector bank State Bank of India (SBI) has appointed Dinesh Khara as it’s new chairman with effect from October 7, 2020, for a three-year term.

Khara succeeded Rajnish Kumar, who demitted office on October 6, 2020, the bank said in a release.

Prior to his new role, Khara was serving the bank as Managing Director, Global Banking & Subsidiaries. Khara has over three and a half decades of rich and diverse experience in all facets of banking such as Retail, Corporate Credit, and International Banking.

As Managing Director,  Khara was instrumental in successfully executing the merger of SBI with its five Associate Banks and Bhartiya Mahila Bank that made the bank join the league of top 50 banks globally.

He  has also served SBI Funds Management Pvt. Ltd. (SBIMF) as MD and CEO prior to his appointment as Managing Director at SBI. Under his leadership, SBI MF went on to become the 5th largest Mutual Fund company in India.

Joined as a Probationary Officer in 1984, Khara has held several key positions at SBI. As Chief General Manager – Bhopal Circle, he has managed around 1400 branches and handled deposits and advances portfolio of over INR 1.5 lakh crores. He has also had a stint in the Overseas Expansion wing of International Banking Group where he worked at SBI’s Chicago office and was associated with the overseas acquisition of Indian Ocean International Bank Mauritius (now SBI Mauritius) and PT Bank Indomonex( now SBI Indonesia)

Another crucial position held by him includes General Manager in Associates and Subsidiaries department of SBI Corporate Centre, where Khara worked closely on operational and strategic issues of various non-banking subsidiaries of SBI.

Khara holds a Masters in Business Administration and is a post-graduate in Commerce. He is also a Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB), the bank said in a statement.