State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara was honoured with the Indian of the Year award in the business sector at the CNN-News18 ‘Indian of the Year’ (IOTY) awards. The 13th edition of India’s premier television award was held on January 10, 2024, to recognise exceptional contributions of remarkable individuals across seven categories – Business, Entertainment, Sports, Youth Icon, Rising Sports Star, Social Change, and Climate Warriors.

Khara received the award from union minister Dr Jitendra Singh.

He has been the chairman of the country’s largest bank, the State Bank of India, since 2020. Under his leadership, SBI’s asset quality has improved and its costs are under control. The share of safe and secure retail assets has also increased.

“Though today when it comes to the digital era we have got a situation where almost 98% of our transactions are happening outside the branch, but still we have a physical presence of more than 22,000 branches across the country, and equally strong presence when it comes to the PCs and CSPs. And I believe there is ample scope for them to contribute because when it comes to financial literacy, we need to strenghten that when we are moving towards becoming a developed country,” Khara said after receiving the award, while also thanking the Narendra Modi government for its “pragmatic policies”.

Khara started his career in SBI as a probationary officer in 1984. He has held several crucial positions in the public sector bank. He is a postgraduate in commerce and holds an MBA degree in Finance from Delhi University’s Faculty of Management Studies.

Other nominees in the category were N Chandrasekaran, Chairperson of Tata Sons; Sanjiv Puri, Managing Director of ITC; Sunil Vachani, Founder and Chairman of Dixon Technologies; and Sandeep Bakhshi, CEO of ICICI Bank.

Currently in its 13th edition, CNN-News18 Indian of the Year is an initiative that recognises Indians who have made significant contributions to various fields and have had a profound impact on the nation. Since its inception in 2006, CNN-News18 Indian of the Year has firmly positioned itself as the biggest awards in the world of news television, celebrated for its unassailable credibility.

Over the years, the Indian of the Year award recipients have included personalities such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra, cricket star Virat Kohli, the Indian women’s cricket team, NGO Stop Acid Attacks, Chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, music legend AR Rahman, former PM Manmohan Singh, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi, star boxer MC Mary Kom, actress Deepika Padukone, and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, among others.