Ujjivan Small Finance Bank said HDFC Bank’s Nitin Chugh will join as president by August 2019 and take over as managing director and chief executive officer (MD and CEO) from December for a period of three years. The Reserve Bank of India gave its approval for the appointment on 14 May, Ujjivan said in a filing with stock exchanges on Friday.
Chugh will take over from MD and CEO Samit Ghosh, whose tenure ends on 30 Nov, which is the date of his attaining the age of 70 years. Bengaluru-based Ujjivan said that the two executives will work closely to ensure a smooth transition. Ghosh said Chugh, who currently serves as group head of digital banking at HDFC Bank, would bring his experience in retail and digital banking to the firm. “His illustrious track record, combined with exceptional leadership and values, makes him the right choice,” Ghosh added.
Chugh said he was looking forward to working with Ujjivan’s team to achieve “its mission of financial inclusion”. Shares of Ujjivan’s parent Ujjivan Financial Services were trading 2.9% down at Rs 311.6 apiece at the time of publication.
A graduate from the National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, Chugh has worked with Standard Chartered Bank and Xerox Corp.
Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, which started operations in February 2017, has over 460 branches, 187 asset centres and 275 banking outlets. It has over 12,000 employees. In November 2018, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced plans to invest up to $50 million (around Rs 350 crore then) debt in Ujjivan Small Finance Bank to help expand its outreach to low-income borrowers and strengthen its balance sheet.
In February, VCCircle reported that South- and Southeast Asia-focused private equity firm Creador had made Ujjivan Financial Services Ltd its biggest bet in India after increasing its stake to 9.9% by spending about $28 million (around Rs 200 crore then). In 2017, Creador had picked up a five per cent stake in the company.
