Shikha Sharma, 

After an average fiscal 2014, Sharma has driven Axis Bank to record some of the highest industry-wide growth rates across key parameters—loans, profits, net interest margins—in the past year. Her determination to keep non-performing assets or bad loans in check, even as Axis grew its loan book by 22% in FY15, has kept investors happy, making Axis one of the best-performing banking stocks. Moreover, quarterly profits have been growing at a steady clip of 18%, which is twice as fast as Axis’s larger competitor ICICI Bank. Sharma, who was instrumental in building ICICI as a force in retail banking, is showing some of her old expertise again. Retail deposits grew 27% in the last financial year, pushing down the cost of funds. For a bank that was primarily a lender to mid-sized corporates five years ago, Axis is now equally dominant in the retail segment. If Sharma continues to grow the bank at this pace, Axis could soon be catching up with the larger banks.