Ajay Banga's brother is an IIT graduate. But why he did not take up engineering?

US President Joe Biden has nominated former Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga to lead the World Bank. Banga, currently vice chairman at private equity firm General Atlantic, has more than 30 years of business experience, having served in various roles at Mastercard and the boards of the American Red Cross, Kraft Foods and Dow Inc. He is the first Indian-born nominee to the World Bank president role.

After graduating from Delhi's St. Stephen's College, Banga followed the footsteps of his elder brother to join IIM Ahmedabad. "I was sure I wanted to do an MBA, so I said why join a engineering degree before doing that, when I can do a three-year economics degree and still do the MBA? IIM-A was the most sought after business school, and a sales and marketing job in an MNC the best career opportunity at that time," he said earlier.

Also Read: Who is Ajay Banga?

After passing out from IIM, Ajay Banga began his career at Nestle India, where for 13 years he worked on assignments spanning sales, marketing and general management. He also spent two years with PepsiCo before joining Citigroup, where he rose to the role of chief executive officer of Citigroup Asia Pacific.

Ajay Banga is also one of the illustrious alumni of Hyderabad Public School (HPS) who achieved top positions in their respective fields. The former Mastercard Chief Executive had his schooling at HPS in the 1970s when his father Harbhajan Singh Banga, an army officer, was posted in the city. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, India's former permanent representative at the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and well-known cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle have also studied in the same school.

The premier educational institution of Hyderabad has also churned out powerful corporate honchos like founder and CEO of Fairfax Financial Holding Prem Watsa, Adobe Systems CEO Shantanu Narayan. Former cricketer Venkatpathy Raju and Telugu actors Akkineni Nagarjuna and Rana Daggubati are among the other alumni of the school which is celebrating its centenary this year.

Ajay Banga's elder brother MS Banga is a IIT Delhi graduate who also passed out from IIM Ahmedabad. MS. Banga is senior partner at the private equity fund Clayton, Dubilier & Rice. He had a 33-year stint at Unilever, where he served as executive board member and president of Global Foods, Home & Personal Care businesses. He was also responsible for Unilever’s sustainability agenda.

In nominating Ajay Banga for the World Bank role, US President Joe Biden said: “Ajay is uniquely equipped to lead the World Bank at this critical moment in history," Biden said in a statement, adding that Banga “has critical experience mobilizing public-private resources to tackle the most urgent challenges of our time, including climate change.”

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement that Banga's experience “will help him achieve the World Bank’s objectives of eliminating extreme poverty and expanding shared prosperity while pursuing the changes needed to effectively evolve the institution,” which include meeting “ambitious goals for climate adaptation and emissions reduction.”

Biden's climate envoy, John Kerry, said on Twitter that Banga was “the right choice."

“He can help put in place new policies that help deploy the large sums of money necessary to reduce global emissions and help developing and vulnerable countries adapt, build resilience, and mitigate the impact of greenhouse gases," Kerry tweeted.

The bank is under pressure to expand its mandate — an effort that likely would require the next president to convince donor countries to provide more money. (With Agency Inputs)