MUSCLING UP

HDFC Bank, which has emerged as the Best Large Indian Bank, has a huge opportunity to grab more market share after the merger of parent HDFC Ltd with it. But the journey ahead is not going to be a cakewalk

- ANAND ADHIKARI

How can we grow at 20 per cent year after year?” That’s what HDFC Bank’s Sashidhar Jagdishan (also called Sashi) asked the then MD & CEO Aditya Puri a few years ago when they were on the road from Mangaluru to Manipal. As they travelled, the Arabian Sea beside them was bustling with trawlers and fishermen going into the sea. “I’ll explain. Look,” Puri began, prompting Sashi, who was designated as a ‘change agent’, a move aimed to position him as Puri’s successor, to look towards the sea. “There are big and small trawlers in the ocean,” said Puri, adding, “Who has a bigger net?” And before Sashi could reply, he further asked, “Who would have a better catch?”

And, here you are! Current MD & CEO Jagdishan, who took over from Puri in October 2020, is being posed the same query after the bank’s merger with parent HDFC Ltd. The merger has created a giant with a balance sheet size of ₹29 lakh crore, next only to the State Bank of India’s ₹52 lakh crore (till September 2022). The 57-year-old Sashi knows that there are now many competitors with big trawlers in the market, but he is focussed on the future.