Kalpana Morparia, 

In a career spanning 36 years, 33 of which were spent at ICICI Bank, Morparia has worn more hats than any other banker—legal, human resource, corporate communications, strategy, special projects, and joint managing director of the bank. She was part of the core team that carried out the reverse merger of ICICI into the smaller entity, ICICI Bank, in 2002. “At that time such a move was unheard of. It was an extremely complex process for which Morparia drew the blueprint,” says an ex-colleague. It is said that a wide number of issues related to integration of employees of the two bodies, and sharing of business information had to be addressed during the merger. Morparia has also mentored many senior executives at ICICI Bank, most of whom today hold top jobs at leading institutions. Amitabh Chaturvedi, MD and CEO of Dhanlaxmi Bank, and Suvalaxmi Chakraborty of the State Bank of Mauritius are some of them. All this is reflected in the way she heads J.P. Morgan’s $1.5 billion India operations. Last year, her team managed the controversial deal between Cairn and Vedanta as banker to the latter, and completed a perpetual rupee-bond issue, a first in the country, for Tata Steel. Morparia says opportunities in the capital market have remained untapped due to volatility. A believer in contributing to social causes, she has recorded a song for charity, Joy of Giving. A huge movie buff and a health freak, she is known to hit the theatres with as much regularity as she works out at the gym.