New Delhi: A new book penned by Rajnish Kumar, the former chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI), aims to tell the story of the Indian banking sector, the many challenges it faced post-demonetisation, the Yes Bank crisis, the collapse of Jet Airways and other seminal moments.
The book, titled The Custodian of Trust, published by Penguin Random House India, is Rajnish Kumar’s memoir, told through engaging anecdotes. It will be released on 21 October on ‘SoftCover’, ThePrint’s online venue to release select non-fiction books.
“SBI is considered a proxy for the Indian economy. In that sense the book is also an account of the tremendous progress made by the country as well as the banking and financial system in the last four decades. The removal of poverty has been the biggest challenge and banks have played a critical role in the fight against poverty. There are many untold and unknown stories in the book, which I am sure readers will find interesting and inspirational,” Kumar said of his first book.
Kumar entered the banking sector in 1980 as a probationary officer in SBI and worked his way up the ranks. Before becoming its chairman, he held several important positions including that of the chairman of the Indian Banks Association, and served on the boards of many other companies while serving SBI.
Currently, he is a director on the boards of HSBC Asia Pacific, L&T Infotech Ltd and Lighthouse Communities Foundation. He is also an exclusive advisor to Kotak Investment Advisors Ltd and senior advisor to Baring Private Equity Asia Pvt Ltd.
The Custodian of Trust has received praise from industrialist Ratan Tata. “This book is not just about the banking system of our country, but a chronicle of contemporary economic history,” he said.
Uday Kotak, CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, said it has the “potential to be a Bollywood blockbuster”.
Disclosure: Ratan Tata and Uday Kotak are among the distinguished founder-investors of ThePrint. Please click here for details on investors.
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