HDFC Bank Appoints Former Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar as Chairman

HDFC Bank appointed former Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar as an independent director and part-time chairman to lead the private lender's board.

The bank cleared Kumar for a four-year term as an independent director starting June 30, 2026, PTI reported, citing a regulatory filing. His three-year appointment as part-time chairman remains subject to Reserve Bank of India approval and remuneration clearance.

Kumar replaces Atanu Chakraborty, who resigned abruptly in March 2026 citing ethical concerns. Before joining HDFC Bank, Kumar served as the 25th Chief Election Commissioner of India, overseeing a general election that involved the largest number of voters globally.

Cleaning Up Public Banking

Kumar served as Secretary of the Department of Financial Services from 2017 to 2020. He took charge when public sector banks faced high levels of unrecognised non-performing assets and severe corporate governance failures.

Within two weeks of joining the department, Kumar froze the bank accounts of 3.38 lakh shell companies to target black money architectures. He subsequently pushed legislators to pass the Banning of Unregulated Deposits Schemes Act, 2019, to stop Ponzi schemes from taking retail savings.

“His approach addressed the long-standing twin balance sheet problem by restoring credit discipline and rebooting the creditor-debtor relationship. These efforts, structured around the ‘4R strategy’ of Recognition, Resolution, Recapitalisation, and Reforms, enabled a sharp turnaround in the banking sector, with public sector banks returning to sustained profitability and improved asset quality,” HDFC Bank told PTI.

Restoring Credit Discipline

Regulators under Kumar mandated passport details for loans of Rs 50 crore and above, preventing large borrowers from fleeing the country before agencies could take action.

“Fraud checks, specialised monitoring above Rs 250 crore, and IT-based risk scoring on 34-plus factors replaced soft signals with loose controls, built into lending by large consortiums of often more than 25 banks. Opacity, suddenly, carried a cost. A total reset of the Creditor-Debtor relationship with a loud and clear message that money has to be lent prudentially and debtors must pay back,” the bank told PTI.

Kumar led a massive recapitalisation of public sector banks, involving a capital infusion exceeding Rs 3 lakh crore. He also drove a major consolidation exercise, merging 27 public sector banks into 12 stronger entities and rationalising regional rural banks. Alongside these systemic changes, Kumar enhanced deposit insurance coverage for depositors from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.