From stop-gap to in-command, IDBI’s Rakesh Sharma stays the course

He oversaw the turnaround, which included govt pumping in around Rs 25,000 crore between 2010 and 2020, as well insolvency law-driven clean-up

NEW DELHI: Rakesh Sharma, the low-profile managing director and CEO of IDBI Bank, who will lead the transition at the once formidable development financial institution, will go down as one of the longest serving bank CEOs.For someone who would have been disappointed at not making the cut as SBI’s deputy managing director has gone on to lead three lenders for over 12 years, and counting. On Thursday, Fairfax announced that Sharma will continue to helm the bank with former ICICI Prudential Life MD NS Kannan to be designated as the new chairman. During an analyst call, Fairfax chairman Prem Watsa also named former HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, former CSB Bank CEO Rajendran CVR and former HDFC Bank deputy MD Paresh Sukthankar as advisers.Sharma’s appointment came as a surprise to several within IDBI Bank as he had been sent to the Mumbai-headquartered outfit as a stop gap CEO with the Centre hoping to move ahead with its plan to privatise the bank. After quitting SBI as chief general manager, Sharma became the MD & CEO of Lakshmi Vilas Bank in March 2014 and then went on to lead Canara Bank from Sept 2015 to July 2018 after govt decided to rope in talent from the private sector.Sharma took charge when IDBI Bank had hit a low and was the first lender to be part of RBI’s prompt corrective action framework in May 2017 due to poor asset quality, low capital and mounting losses, resulting in restrictions. He oversaw the turnaround, which included govt pumping in around Rs 25,000 crore between 2010 and 2020, as well insolvency law-driven clean-up.