The North East Small Finance Bank (NESFB) has appointed Satish Kumar Kalra as its interim Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. The appointment has been approved by the Reserve Bank of India. Previously, Kalra served as the Managing Director & CEO (In-charge), and Executive Director of Andhra Bank from 2012 to 2017. He has also served as an independent director at Lakshmi Vilas Bank from Dec 2019 to May 2021. Currently, he is an independent director at Can Fin Homes Limited.
“Mr Kalra’s professional journey is marked by his tenure at Andhra Bank as the Managing Director & CEO (In-charge), and Executive Director, where he drove significant growth achieving a 13% compound annual growth rate in credit and added over 1200 branches worldwide,” the NESFB said in a statement.
The Guwahati-headquarter lender said that Kalra’s long association with several institutions as an independent director, including roles at PNB GILTS Ltd, Indbank Merchant Banking Services Ltd, JK Cement Limited, and CAN FIN Homes Ltd “underscores his deep expertise in the industry”.
Kalra will be instrumental in steering the bank towards a path of growth and stability, the lender said, adding that his expertise will be pivotal in enhancing branch management and the bank’s asset base. Additionally, he will oversee the bank’s strategic growth and business directives in line with the “highest governance and regulatory standards”.
Kalra will spearhead the ongoing merger process between slice and NESFB, “dedicating particular attention to the optimisation of bank operations and ensuring a seamless cultural integration of the two entities”.
In October this year, NESFB announced its merger with fintech unicorn slice “to accelerate their joint vision of expanding tech-enabled financial accessibility across the country. slice is a consumer payments and credit company. Backed by leading investors such as Tiger Global, Insight Partners, Advent International, Blume Ventures, and Gunosy Capital, slice has cumulatively raised $290 million in its series A, B, and C rounds.