After an illustrious career of four decades in banking, Padmaja Chunduru is playing the second innings of her career as the MD & CEO of India’s largest depository — National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL).
As she prepares to launch the IPO of NSDL, Padmaja has proven her prowess in managing and delivering complex mandates. Be it the merger of Indian Bank with Allahabad Bank bang in the middle of Covid-19, while she was the MD & CEO of Indian Bank; or dealing with the financial crisis of 2008 that badly hit the diamond branch of SBI, while she was heading it, Padmaja aces winning against volatility. Perhaps the initial years of her career when she was posted away from her family and had to manage her branch while rearing her few-month-old son, seasoned her to deal with adversities calmly. Padmaja believes women need to change their mindset before the world changes its outlook towards them. She believes women should focus on doing their work sincerely without worrying about perfection, and should not hesitate to take up more responsible positions to rise in their career. Even though NSDL is a depository company owned by banks and financial institutions, it resembles a technology firm. After joining NSDL, Padmaja initiated change management in the company. Through the Aspire, Perspire, Inspire Programme, NSDL overhauled its systems and processes to align customer experience with expectations of the digital-first clientele. With the IPO, NSDL will be entering a new phase of evolution. Padmaja surely knows the expectations of major shareholders and how to manage them. — Rajiv Ranjan Singh