Women Power makes impact in the Indian Banking Industry

The appointment of Chanda Kochhar to head ICICI Bank is the crowning glory for the woman banker who turned out to be the winner in a race against her male counterparts in the country's largest private bank. She now joins the elite group of women bankers in India

Until a new months ago, the joint managing director of ICICI Bank - Kalpana Morparia is now the CEO for India of JP Morgan Chase. ICICI's board also has another female executive director, Madhavi Puri Buch.

Naina Lal Kidwai, the India CEO for HSBC, is from Harvard Business School. Meera H. Sanyal is the India head for ABN Amro Bank - now part of the Royal Bank of Scotland group. Manisha Girotra is heading UBS in India.

Ranjana Kumar took over at Chennai-based PSU Indian Bank in May 2000, and HA Daruwalla, who reached the top in 2005 at another Public Sector Bank, Central Bank of India.

Reserve Bank of India has lead the way by giving the coveted Deputy Governor positions as early as 2003 to K J Udeshi who was followed by Usha Thorat in 2005.

Government owned, State Bank of India, India’s largest bank has also seen women at ranks of Deputy Managing Director.

Thus now public, private and foreign banks alike, over the last few years have generated woman leaders who have moved right to the top, making banking probably the first sector in which the gender barrier has been visibly and substantially broken.

ICICI Bank appoints Ms Chanda Kochhar as Managing Director & CEO

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