ARUNDHATI BHATTACHARYA

As the first woman to ever lead the State Bank of India, Arundhati Bhattacharya has very much earned her reputation as one of the most important figures in global finance. Starting at SBI at the age of 22, Arundhati worked her way up the internal hierarchy all the way to chairman in 2013. Three years later she was named as the 25th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine.
She introduced a two year sabbatical leave policy for female employees and free cervical cancer vaccinations. Last year she was responsible for the ground-breaking merger of the SBI’s five associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank, her last act as SBI Chairman. As the Indian government initiates the process to select the next chairman for the Banks Board Bureau, it seems likely that in coming years Arundhati will work her way up Forbes’ list even further.

Quotes and Praise

“If you are approachable, if you keep your line of communication open, then very often, you get to hear what you need to hear.”
“If you are satisfied you will never see any more progress. One remains dissatisfied, but that doesn’t mean that things are not happening.”
“One of the big lessons I have learnt from my life is that things are never as difficult as they seem. When you actively plunge into it, you realise you can easily do it.”