Controversy does the work of poison. Chanda Kochhar should step down as the ICICI Bank Chief and save one of India’s largest private sector banks from deteriorating further. Around Rs 50 thousand crores of gross NPAs is a staggering amount and it is in public domain who all are big defaulters at the bank and with whose help they have got those big bucks. Poor set of 4th quarter results were in line with what was expected which is the reason why the stock price did not take a beating as all the bad news is factored in the price but future looks bleak as culture of banking cannot be changed overnight and the bank carries a baggage that would ultimately prove its downfall.
A change of the leader at the helm is the need of the hour to bring about a revolution if ICICI BANK wishes to survive. It is always better to quit before you are asked to leave and Chanda Kochar should step down till her name is cleared from all the the controversies surrounding her. Most top agencies are investigating and Chanda Kochar would be busy answering them than leading the bank grow!
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
