The senior-most Managing Director of State Bank of India (SBI) Dinesh Kumar Khara on Wednesday took charge as the new chairman of India’s largest public lender. The government on Tuesday had appointed Khara as the chairman of the bank for a period of three years. Khara has replaced chairman Rajnish Kumar, whose three-year term came to an end on October 7.
“The Central Government, hereby appoints Dinesh Kumar Khara (date of birth: 28.8.1961), Managing Director, State Bank of India as Chairman, State Bank of India for a period of three years with effect from the date of his taking over charge of the post on or after 7.10.2020, or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” a notification by the Department of Financial Services said on Tuesday.
Khara’s appointment comes at a time when the banking sector along with the other industries is going through a pandemic-led crisis.
Prior to being appointed as Chairman of the bank, Khara was the Managing Director (Global Banking & Subsidiaries) of the bank, and in this role, led and steered the International Banking Group, Corporate and Treasury operations of the bank.
“As Managing Director (Associates & Subsidiaries), Khara successfully accomplished merging of five Associate Banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with SBI,” the state-run bank said in a regulatory filing.
Earlier he was also the MD and CEO of SBI Funds Management Pvt Ltd (SBIMF).
Khara, 59, did his Masters in Business Administration from FMS New Delhi and is a post-graduate in Commerce from Delhi School of Economics.
He joined SBI in 1984 as a Probationary Officer, was instrumental in merging five associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with SBI effective April 2017.
In August, the Banks Board Bureau had recommended Khara as the next Chairman of India’s largest public sector bank. As per convention, the SBI chairman is appointed from a pool of serving managing directors at the bank.
Separately, it had recommended the names of Swaminthan Janakiraman and Ashwini Kumar Tewari for the posts of MD in SBI.