Mahesh Kumar Jain, who demitted office as MD and CEO of Indian Bank, has taken over as MD and CEO of IDBI Bank. This follows the government suggestion that the CEOs of the two banks switch positions. Jain, after assuming charge at IDBI Bank, said protection of the bottom line, focus on retail lending and resolution of bad assets will be his key priorities. He also addressed the employees of the bank and sought their cooperation to bring the bank back to normal. Meanwhile, Kishore Kharat, who was MD and CEO at IDBI Bank, is moving to Indian Bank. Jain’s priorities at IDBI Bank will be on extending loans that attract lower risk weights, thus helping to conserve capital. He would also be focusing on growing secure retail loans, with low default probability. IDBI Bank’s retail book stood at Rs 59,187 crore at the end of December 2016, out of total advances of Rs 2,32,552 crore. He also said maximum efforts should be put on the resolution and recovery from stressed assets. The bank had booked net loss of Rs 1958 crore in April-December 2016. The losses were Rs 3,665 crore in 2015-16.
