MC EXCLUSIVE Everyone will be proud of IndusInd Bank in three years, says MD Rajiv Anand

Rajiv Anand, MD & CEO, IndusInd Bank

• Rajiv Anand says IndusInd Bank's anticipated concerns have not materialized
• Anand aims to make IndusInd Bank a 'truly' universal bank by August 2028
• Bank is attracting high-quality talent at industry-average costs

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IndusInd Bank's managing director and chief executive officer Rajiv Anand is clear that "everyone will be proud" of the lender when his three-year tenure ends in August 2028, affirming that the concerns that the top banker had while taking up his new assignment have not played out.

Terming his tenure so far at the bank as an "exhilarating experience", Anand was candid to accept that he expected his time in office to be a "tough one". “I’ve come in into a bank which has gone through a fair degree of trouble for over six months, so I did anticipate that it would be a challenging experience,” he said. “But what I've been able to see, do and work with the teams over the last five months has certainly energized me,” he said with a sense of content.

Moneycontrol caught up with Anand about a week ago. Unlike what he is known for, someone who likes to engage in a bit of small talk, Anand was furiously busy with work, not having a minute to take his eyes off the laptop before the interview. While he had some time to spare after the interview concluded, he still had to get back to work quickly.

Concerns haven’t play out like anticipated

His focus is understandable considering the task ahead of him - that is to position IndusInd Bank truly as universal bank not just focused on two products (microfinance and commercial vehicles) for its bread and butter. “This is a franchise which is under-delivering to its potential. I do believe and I’m very certain that over the next three years it will be a bank that all of us will be proud about,” he affirmed.

The good thing, as he points out, is that some of the concerns that he was anticipating at the time of accepting the offer at IndusInd Bank haven’t quite played out. “What I obviously worried about was that there were the problems disclosed by the board through March and June (of 2025). Is there more to come? Whether this is the iceberg, or this is the tip of the iceberg? Second is, one really doesn't know how exactly the book is playing out, because there's only so much of disclosures that one gets from the outside. These were the two unknowns before taking on this assignment,” he stated. But to his surprise, he adds that “as far as the issues which have been well-reported and articulated is behind us”. Anand is clear that IndusInd Bank’s financials not withstanding slippages in the normal course of business, is ‘relatively clean’. “In that sense the fears that one thought would be much bigger than what had anticipated have not played out”, he reiterated with a sense of comfort.

“When I was evaluating the opportunity, I knew that there were three very good businesses which are very different –commercial vehicle, gems and jewelry and microfinance. I knew that there was a differentiated business strategy and was certain we could build on it as we go forward. The franchises is strong and the position from a capital perspective, is more than adequate,” he said.

Attracting talent at the right price

Is attracting talent at the right cost then the challenge? Anand doesn’t agree with this. Stating that the bank hasn’t deviated from industry average in terms of the cost of hiring, he says the bank has been able to attract a very high quality team from a diverse set of organizations –private banks, foreign banks and NBFCs. “They have all come to us at affordable prices”.

“Stage one is to bring people in at the CXO level and we have pretty much done that. Some of these people will join us between now and March 31, 2026. Over the next six months, we will start to work to put a succession slate in place, which we will take to our NRC (nomination and remuneration committee). The process of building the bench strength will start from April 1, 2026 onwards,” he said.

When questioned how he was welcomed by the existing talent at the bank, Anand said “The feedback that I receive is open, honest and transparent, and I'm ticking the box of listening to our people. I have done town-halls across the country. I do regular quarterly webcasts”.

Anand is certain that the bank has fantastic teams across businesses. “I see no reason why we will not be able to convert this passion into outcomes”.

Simultaneously, the bank is also strengthening its corporate banking teams. “We wouldn't get somebody as senior Ganesh Shankaran to head that business otherwise,” he emphasized and the reason why this segment of business is important to him is because IndusInd Bank has always had a strong corporate bank recall. “I've met a whole bunch of corporates over the last 4 – 5 months and I can already see the warmth that they have towards the bank. I do intend to continue to build on that as we go forward. We may not necessarily be able to compete in all transactions, but we will continue to stay focused on our on our corporate bank. Maybe less on very large corporate but we will be there across the entire gamut of large, mid-corporates and SMEs,” Anand said.

A Board-run bank

Would a culmination of all these efforts mean that Anand, every CEO who takes charge at a bank, would aspire is to push IndusInd Bank’s ranking up by a notch? Not really, he said with a smile. “Stage one is to build a bank that that our stakeholders - regulators, investors, board and the media – would really trust and admire. That is the first thing I need to address and my team is focused on. Everything else is subservient to that,” he said indicating that he has his priorities right.

IndusInd Bank is also his first instance of working in a promoter-led entity. When asked how the experience is Anand was careful with his choice of words. Stating that the bank is run by its board, he said “All decisions are made by and through the board. I have regular interactions with the board and its various committees. That's really how we run this bank. Promoters are not involved on a day to day basis”. With respect to a possible change in the board composition, the bank’s chief indicated that with some retirements (of board members) coming up, there will be replacements made.