S. Ganesh Kumar To Succeed Sanjeeb Chaudhuri As IDFC FIRST Bank Chairman, Aashish Kamat To Exit Board

IDFC FIRST Bank Limited appoints S. Ganesh Kumar as Part-Time Non-Executive Chairperson for a term from May 10, 2027 to April 29, 2029. Sanjeeb Chaudhuri shall cease to be a Part-Time Non-Executive Chairperson, effective May 9, 2027. Pradeep Natarajan is reappointed as Whole-Time Director for a period of three years, effective May 31, 2027. Meanwhile, Aashish Kamat completes his tenure as an Independent Director of the Bank and will cease to be an Independent Director from December 17, 2026.

Kumar was an Executive Director of the Reserve Bank of India for more than three decades. His recent responsibilities included the entire gamut of Payment and Settlement Systems, the creation and development of strategic plans for the Bank and taking care of external investments and managing the foreign exchange reserves. He was associated with the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology. He had a key role in the establishment of new institutions such as the National Payments Corporation of India, the Reserve Bank Information Technology Private Limited, and the Indian Financial Technology and Allied Services (IFTAS), to name a few. He was also associated with the National Cyber Security Council of the Government of India and in the framing of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act of India. He had a role to play in ideating, designing, and developing innovative, technology-based retail payment systems for India, including some of the payment systems now being operated by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). He holds an M.B.A., B.Sc., Diploma in Banking, B.G.L., and C.A.I.I.B.

Natarajan has been in a leadership position with IDFC FIRST Bank Limited since December 2018 and is currently the Head of Retail Banking of the Bank. He is highly committed to the vision of the Bank to build a world-class Bank in India, guided by ethics, powered by technology, and to be a force for Social Good. He is a customer-focused and respected industry thought leader with broad expertise in business development, technology, risk analytics, debt management, project management, customer service and marketing. He had stints in reputed organisations such as Standard Chartered Bank, Dell India, Religare Macquarie Wealth Management and Capital First Limited, where he held leadership roles. He is a management graduate from Sydenham Institute of Management Studies (batch of 1998) with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, and his professional experience is spread across diverse industry segments such as banking, technology, and wealth management.