Rajnish Kumar appointed SBI's next Chairman, to take over on October 7

Rajnish Kumar was announced as the new State Bank of India (SBI) Chief with a three-year-tenure on Wednesday.

Kumar has been with one of India's largest public sector lenders for more than three decades.

He has been serving as the nominee Director on the Board of SBI since April 26, 2016.

In an exclusive interview to CNBC-TV18, Kumar revealed that he will be assuming office as Chairman from October 7.

Kumar had assumed charge as Managing Director (National Banking Group) on November 2, 2015, prior to which he was the Managing Director (Compliance & Risk) from May 2015.

Before assuming position of the Managing Director, Kumar was heading SBI Capital Markets Limited, the merchant banking arm of SBI as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Kumar carries vast experience in handing large credit, project finance, foreign exchange and retail banking operations.

An avid traveller, Kumar has also served in various capacities across verticals of the bank in United Kingdom and Canada.

A badminton player, Kumar started his career with SBI as a Probationary Officer in 1980.

Outgoing Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya’s term as SBI chairman is slated to end this week. In October 2016, Bhattacharya’s tenure was extended by a year. She had taken up the top job in 2013.