SBI chief Rajnish Kumar won’t get extension as Banks Board Bureau pushes for Dinesh Khara as chairman

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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The Banks Board Bureau (BBB) on August 28 recommended Dinesh Kumar Khara for the vacancy of Chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI). This means current SBI chief Rajnish Kumar, whose three-year term is set to end on October 7, is not likely to get an extension. He took charge as SBI Chairman in October, 2017.

The BBB, the headhunter for state-owned banks and financial institutions, has also recommended Challa Sreenivasulu Setty's name as the reserved list candidate for the vacancy.

The chairman of SBI is usually appointed from amongst serving managing directors of the lender. Khara, whose name has been recommended for the post by the BBB, is one of the four current managing directors of the bank, the other three being Arijit Basu, Challa Sreenivasulu Setty and Ashwani Bhatia. Bhatia was elevated to the post of Managing Director earlier this week.

Also Read | Internal hiring: Three Managing Directors in the race for top job at SBI

Dinesh Khara, the senior-most Managing Director of SBI, heads the GB & S wing of the bank. He holds a board-level position and supervises the businesses of SBI's non-banking subsidiaries. Prior to being appointed as Managing Director of the country's largest lender, he was the MD and CEO of SBI Funds Management Pvt Limited (SBIMF).

Also Read | Meet Dinesh Kumar Khara, SBI’s new chief

The new SBI chairman will have a tough task ahead as the banking sector is going through a major crisis hit by the COVID-19 onslaught. As on June 30, SBI has made a total provision of Rs 3,000 crore to cover potential COVID losses.

Gross non-performing asset (NPA) ratio at 5.44 percent is lower than 6.15 percent in the preceding quarter. But the continuation of moratorium till August makes current NPA numbers somewhat irrelevant.

About 9.5 percent of the SBI’s loan book is now under moratorium and over 90 percent of customers have paid two or more instalments since March.