"I held the stone close to my eyes, it blocked my vision. I held the same stone one feet away from my eye and look I can now continue to see both the stone and the world," Subramaniakumar said referring to the markets' reaction to his appointment as RBL Bank top boss.
Owing to COVID-19 and internal developments at the bank, the lender saw a muted 2 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth in advances during January-March with its total loans standing at Rs 60,022 crore as of March end.
The appointment has been made for a period of three years, the bank said.
Ahuja was appointed as the interim MD & CEO of the bank on December 25 after the abrupt exit of former chief of the bank Vishwavir Ahuja.
The committee will evaluate candidates for the position from "within and outside the bank", RBL Bank said.
Earlier, the RBL Bank board had appointed Ahuja as interim CEO subject to regulatory approvals after Vishwavir Ahuja, former CEO, went on leave abruptly.
"RBI has given me the assurance that they are comfortable with performance of the bank," RBL Bank interim CEO Rajeev Ahuja told CNBC-TV18.
The central bank is in the process of examining the request, CNBC TV 18 reported.
Such actions from the regulator, on a Christmas Day no less, normally don’t happen without a strong reason
The bank's board has appointed current executive director Rajeev Ahuja as interim MD & CEO.
RBL Bank did face minor challenges in some rural pockets due to lack of currency post demonetisation says Head of Strategy Rajeev Ahuja. However, he is quick to add that the impact of demonetisation has not been as severe as it had been anticipated to be.
The industry's average growth is likely to hover around 10-11 percent due to factors like normalisation of financial markets, stronger India position and rate cuts introduced by the Reserve bank of India, said Rajeev Ahuja, Head Strategy, Retail And Financial Inclusion at RBL Bank.
Rajeev Ahuja, Head of Strategy said RBL Bank's current net worth is Rs 3,000 crore and the IPO will add another Rs 800 crore to it. Coupled with internal accruals the net worth will reach around Rs 4,000 crore in FY17.