AGENTS OF CHANGE: K V KAMATH

The Indian banking sector has evolved considerably in the past decade adopting more consumer-friendly functioning and modernization. And the person who pioneered these changes is undoubtedly K.V. Kamath, the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of India’s largest private sector bank ICICI Bank Ltd. April 30, 2009 will mark the end of Kamath’s executive role at ICICI Bank, as he will retire from the post of CEO & MD and take over as non-executive chairman from May 01, 2009.

He was instrumental in changing the rules of retail banking in India. First, he extensively used technology to offer multi-channel delivery of services by introducing internet banking, ATMs and call centres. Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India Ltd, the financial institution that founded ICICI Bank Ltd and later merged with it, was the first financial institution of India to go online as early as in 1997. ICICI Bank also led the changes in banking culture of India, as before the arrival of new generation private banks in 1996, the customers were completely at the mercy of the officials of government owned banks. India’s real estate boom in the recent years was also credited to Kamath and his team up to an extent, as ICICI Bank not only brought down the interest rates significantly to make it affordable, but also adopted very aggressive market strategies to reach out to the customers. The initiatives by ICICI Bank forced not only the other private banks and housing finance institutions, but the government banks also to follow suit. The cheaper and easier credit availability played an important role in driving the housing demand in the country. His aggression turned a number of people skeptical about ICICI bank’s credit quality, but the bank has kept its bad debts well within the prudent norms and withstood even the current phase of crises in the real estate sector.

His modern outlook and various initiatives established ICICI Bank as the largest private sector bank of India and a global financial powerhouse. Currently, he is also the President of the Confederation of Indian Industries, India’s premier industry body representing more than 90,000 members. He was given Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilian award, in 2008. He was named the “Businessman of the Year” by Forbes Asia in 2007.