Government names Dinesh Khara as the new SBI chief

MUMBAI: The government on Tuesday appointed Dinesh Khara as chairman of State Bank of India for three years. He succeeds Rajnish Kumar. Khara, who was the senior-most managing director at the government-owned lender, was recommended by the Banks Board Bureau and approved by the Prime Minister-headed Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

In 2017, Khara had lost the race to the top post to Kumar, whose term ended Tuesday. He was looking after SBI’s global banking and subsidiaries business. He was considered to be the “merger” man — having overseen more than a dozen bank mergers in a career spanning over 35 years. One crucial aspect that made Khara the favourite for the top job was his experience in the bank’s overseas offices.

Khara has a master’s degree in commerce and another in business administration from FMS, New Delhi. He joined SBI as a probationary officer in 1984 and has experience in all facets of commercial banking — retail credit, MSME, corporate and international banking.