Chanda Kochhar is an Indian banker and former managing director and CEO of ICICI Bank. She headed the corporate centre of the bank. She also worked as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and official spokesperson for ICICI Bank. In 2022, she was arrested by CBI for sanctioning a Rs 3,250 crore loan to the Videocon Group involved with alleged irregularities.
Wiki/Biography
Chanda Kochhar was born as Chanda Advani on Friday, 17 November 1961 (age 61 years; as of 2022) in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. Her zodiac sign is Scorpio. She studied at St. Angela Sophia School, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. After the demise of her father, she moved to Mumbai with her family at an early age. She holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Jai Hindi College, the University of Mumbai in Mumbai. Later, she pursued cost accountancy at the Institute of Cost Accountants of India. In 1982, she received the J. N. Bose Gold Medal for obtaining the highest marks in that year. She studied at Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies and received a degree in master of management studies; she was the highest scorer of her batch and received the Wockhardt Gold Medal for her performance in management studies.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 5″
Weight (approx.): 55 kg
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
She belongs to a Hindu Sindhi family in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.
Parents & Siblings
Her father, Roopchand Advani, was a professor at an engineering college. When she was 13 years old, her father passed away. Her mother is a homemaker. She has two siblings, a brother and a sister.
Husband & Children
He is married to Deepak Kochhar, the Founder & CEO of NuPower Renewables. The couple has two children. They have one daughter named Aarti Kochhar, owner of Taali Foods, and a son named Arjun Kochhar, a squash player.
Chanda Kochhar with her husband and daughter, Aarti
Chanda Kochhar with her husband and son
Relationships/Affairs
Before, getting married to Deepak Kochhar, she dated Deepak, who was also her business schoolmate.
Chanda Kocchar with her husband, Deepak Kochhar
Career
Management Trainee
In 1984, she began working as a management trainee at the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI). During her initial years at ICICI bank, she took care of project appraisal and monitoring. She managed projects in multiple industries including petrochemicals, textile, paper, and cement. In 1993, she was chosen as one of the core team members for setting up the bank. She was involved in devising the retail and corporate strategy, deciding the branch roll-out strategy, deciding the technology architecture of the bank and selecting software.
Assistant General Manager
In 1994, she was appointed as the assistant general manager (AGM) of the ICICI Bank.
Deputy General Manager
In 1996, she was appointed as the deputy general manager (DGM) of the ICICI bank. She handled the Infrastructure Industry Group of the ICICI Bank, which was formed to create industrial expertise in the areas of Power, Telecom and Transportation.
Deputy General Manager
In 1998, she was appointed as General Manager (GM) of the ICICI Bank. She handled a significant client group at the bank under which she was assigned to handle the top 200 clients of the bank. In 1999, she took care of ICICI Bank’s strategy and e-commerce divisions.
Executive Director
In April 2001, she became the executive director and headed the retail business of ICICI bank. In 2001, under her leadership, ICICI Bank won Best Retail Bank in India Award by The Asian Banker. In 2002, the bank received Excellence in Retail Banking Award from The Asian Banker. ICICI Bank received Best Retail Bank in India Award from The Asian Banker consecutively for 3 years in 2003, 2004, and 2005.
Chanda Kochhar receiving India’s Best Banks Award
Deputy Managing Director
In April 2006, she became the deputy managing director of ICICI Bank and took care of the corporate and retail of the bank.
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) & Joint Managing Director
She worked as the chief financial officer (CFO) and joint managing director of the bank from October 2007 to October 2009. She handled the International and Corporate businesses of ICICI Bank.
Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer
From 2009 to 2018, she worked as the managing director and joint managing director of the ICICI Bank. She handled international banking business and established customer relationships in India and overseas by providing them with the bank’s diverse facilities. She headed the board of most of the subsidiaries of ICICI Bank.
Chanda Kochhar giving a speech at an ICICI bank conference
Other Positions
In 2011, she was appointed as one of the chairpersons of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting. She was one of the members of the US-India CEO Forum and India-Russia Business Leaders Forum. She was selected to be the president of the International Monetary Conference from 2015 to 2016. She was appointed as the deputy chairman of the Indian Banks Association. She was chosen to be the chairperson of the board of governors at IIIT Vadodara, Gujarat. She was one of the board members of the National Institute of Securities Markets and the Institute of International Finance. She was appointed as a member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade & Industry, the Board of Trade and the High-Level Committee on Financing Infrastructure in India.
Controversy
ICICI Loan Fraud Case
In April 2018, CBI questioned her about the conflict of interest in the ICICI Bank-Videocon loan controversy. The CBI initiated a preliminary investigation into the alleged wrongdoing in the ICICI loan of Rs. 3,250 crores to the Videocon Group, naming the founder of the Videocon Group, Venugopal Dhoot, Chanda Kochhar’s husband, Deepak Kochhar, and others. Chanda Kochhar and her husband, Deepak Kochhar, were arrested by the CBI on 23 December 2022, in connection with alleged irregularities in a loan of more than Rs. 3,000 crores given to the Videocon Group while she was the head of the ICCI Bank. She resigned from her positions as managing director and CEO of ICICI Bank in October 2018. To favour Videocon Group, a manufacturer of consumer electronics and an oil and gas exploration company, Chanda Kochhar is accused of breaking the bank’s internal rules and the code of conduct. For alleged irregularities in a loan of Rs. 3,250 crores to the Videocon Group in 2012 that turned into a non-performing asset for the ICICI Bank, the CBI accused her of criminal conspiracy and cheating. According to reports, after the Videocon group received a loan from the ICICI Bank, former Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot allegedly invested crores of rupees in NuPower Renewables, which is a company founded by Chanda Kochhar’s husband, Deepak Kochhar. Reportedly, Ms Kochhar served on the committee that sanctioned the loan to the Videocon Group. On 23 December 2022, Chanda Kochhar and her husband, Deepak Kocchar were arrested by CBI for being involved in the ICICI Bank-Videocon Fraud case.
A timeline of ICICI Bank and Videocon Group loan fraud controversy
Awards, Honours, Achievements
- 2002-10: Featured in the list of ’30 Most Powerful Woman Leaders’ for eight consecutive years
- 2004: Won Retail Banker of the Year Award by The Asian Banker
- 2005: Awarded ‘Business Woman of the Year’ by The Economic Times
- 2005: Ranked 47th on the ‘Most Powerful Women in Business’ list by Fortune
- 2006: Received ‘Rising Star Award’ for Global Awards by Retail Banker International
- 2006: Ranked 37th on ‘Most Powerful Women in Business list by Fortune
- 2007: Ranked 33rd on ‘Most Powerful Women in Business’ list by Fortune
- 2008: Ranked 25th on ‘Most Powerful Women in Business’ list by Fortune
- 2009: Ranked 20th on ‘World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list’ by Forbes
- 2010: Ranked 10th in Fortune’s List of ‘Most Powerful Women in Business,’ was also ranked 92nd in the Forbes List of ‘Most Powerful Women’ in the world
- 2011: Honoured with Padma Bhushan award, the third highest civilian award in India
Chanda Kochhar receiving Padma Bhushan in 2011
- 2011: Awarded ABLF Woman of Power Award (India) at the Asian Business Leadership Forum Awards
- 2011: Ranked 10th in the ‘Top 50 Women in World Business’ list by Financial Times
- 2011: Listed among the ’50 Most Influential People in Global Finance’ by Bloomberg Markets
- 2011: Ranked 59th among the ‘World’s 100 Most Powerful Women’ by Forbes
- 2011: Ranked 5th in the International list of ’50 Most Powerful Women in Business’ by Fortune
- 2011: Featured on the list of the ‘Most Powerful Women – Hall of Fame’ by Business Today
- 2013: Ranked in Forbes’ list of ‘The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women 2013’ as the most powerful businesswoman in India
- 2013: Featured in India Today’s ‘Power List 2013 of 25 most powerful women in India’
- 2014: Carleton University, Canada honoured her with a doctorate degree
Chanda Kochhar at Carleton University in Canada
- 2014: Awarded with ASSOCHAM Ladies League Mumbai Women of the Decade Achievers Award
- 2015: Listed in Time magazine’s ‘100 Most Influential People in the World’
- 2015: Ranked 1st on ‘100 Most Powerful Women in Asia Pacific’ by Fortune
- 2015: Won Asia Game Changer Award at the UN headquarters in New York, the USA
Ms. Chanda Kochhar received the #AsiaGameChangers Award at the UN headquarters, NYC pic.twitter.com/jnKQzoYsK6
— ICICI Bank (@ICICIBank) October 16, 2015
- 2016: Ranked 10th in Forbes list of ‘The World’s Most Powerful Women in Finance 2016’
- 2016: Ranked 22nd in ’50 Power Businesswomen List 2016′ by Forbes Asia
- 2016: Ranked 40th on ‘High and Mighty Power List 2016’ by India Today
- 2017: Featured in Business World magazine’s ‘BW’s Most Influential Women’ list as an Evergreen Woman Leader
- 2017: Won Woodrow Wilson Award for Global Corporate Citizenship from the Woodrow Wilson Centre in the USA
Chanda Kochhar with Woodrow Wilson Award
- 2017: Listed 5th on the list of ‘Most Powerful Women in business outside the U.S.’ by Fortune
Car Collection
Chanda Kochhar owns an Audi, Mercedes Benz, and Ford H5 worth Rs 1.10 crores.
Chanda Kochhar’s car
Salary
As of 2017, she received an annual salary of Rs 2.37 crores.
Assets & Properties
She owns many real estate properties including a home in Mumbai, which she bought in 2011. According to Enforcement Directorate (ED), in December 2020, she had estimated assets of Rs 78.15 crores including a Churchgate flat valued at Rs 3.5 crores.
Chanda Kochhar’s home in Mumbai
Net Worth
As of 2022, her net worth is estimated to be Rs 24 crore ($ 3.3 million).
Note: It excludes the net worth of his wife and dependents (minors).
Favourites
- Banker(s): Narayanan Vaghul, K. V. Kamath
- Food: Thai Food- Red Curry, Sindhi delicacies (made by her mother), Gujia, Jalebis
Facts/Trivia
- Chanda Kochhar joined ICICI Bank at the age of 22.
- When she was studying in Jaipur, she aimed to be an IAS officer; however, after being influenced by her surrounding culture she decided to become a banker.
- In an interview, she revealed that she had an interest in dramatics and had participated in some of the programs of All India Radio. She also revealed that she likes to watch Bollywood films.
- She used to play basketball and badminton in school.
- In an interview, she revealed that she does not exercise at all and the reason behind her lean physique is her metabolism.
- According to her, she is a religious person; however, she does not follow orthodox practices.
- In 2012, K. V. Kamath, the former chief of the New Development Bank of BRICS countries and Chanda Kochhar’s mentor, interviewed her at ICICI.
- In 2009, she appeared on the cover of Forbes India magazine.
Chanda Kochhar on the cover of Forbes India magazine
- In 2009, she was listed second Indian in ‘World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list’ by Forbes; Sonia Gandhi, president of the Indian National Congress, was the first Indian on the list.
- In 2010, she was ranked 92 on Forbes ‘World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list;’ however, she climbed back up to 43rd position in 2011.
- In November 2014, her daughter, Aarti, got married to Aditya Kaji. Many businessmen, CEOs, and A-list celebrities including Mukesh Ambani, Nita Ambani, Gautam Adani, Kumar Mangalam Birla, P Chidambaram, Uddhav Thackeray, Nitin Gadkari, Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, and many more attended her wedding.
Politicians, businessmen, and celebrities attending the wedding of Chanda Kochhar’s daughter
- She was ranked 43rd in 2014, 35th in 2015, and 32nd in 2017 on Forbes ‘World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list.’
Chart: Chanda Kochhar, Priyanka Chopra among world’s most powerful women: Forbes https://t.co/8YhHbpF7FV #MostPowerfulWomen #PriyankaChopra pic.twitter.com/bjXnJcY0p3
— Moneycontrol (@moneycontrolcom) November 3, 2017
- In an interview, on being asked about how she manages to stay in touch with her employees and customers on the organization’s front line, she replied,
I make regular visits to all our branches. I go almost unannounced, and at a branch, I make an effort to talk to the people there. And for the past two years, I have been holding regularly scheduled employee discussion meetings. These are not performance reviews or meetings with a particular business segment—with a boss and his subordinate and the next subordinate and the next. These are just meetings with different sets of about 20 employees picked on a random basis at various levels of the organization. We do them once a month. I promise people who participate that whatever they say is just for me to absorb and will not go out of the room. Sometimes we talk about the work environment in the branches. Sometimes we talk about what customers are feeling. Sometimes we talk about gender issues. Sometimes we talk about our transfer policies. And over time, people have learned that they can speak to me and they do; no one outside the room knows who spoke.”