Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, (born in August 8, 1960 at

Bishalgarh Bishalgarh is a major town located in the Indian state of Tripura & a Municipal Council in Sipahijala district. As of 2001 census Bishalgarh has a population of 23,721. 12,248 people are male. 11,473 are female. See also * List of cities and t ...

Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...

, India) is the founder, former MD & CEO of

Bandhan Bank Bandhan Bank Ltd. is a banking and financial services company, headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. History Bandhan was set up in 2001 as a not-for-profit entity with the objective of financial inclusion and women empowerment. It started i ...

. He has been one of the foremost proponents of financial inclusion in India. He has more than 30 years of experience in the microfinance and development terrain.

Early life and education

Ghosh's father, Late Haripada Ghosh, owned a sweet shop in Tripura. Even as a student, Ghosh supported his father at the shop. After completing his education, he joined BRAC, Bangladesh’s largest non-government organisation (NGO). After returning to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, Ghosh worked with several NGOs, before quitting his last job at the Village Welfare Society. He then established Bandhan-

Konnagar Konnagar is a town and a municipality of Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. The town is under the jurisdiction of the Uttarpara police station in Serampore subdivision. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan ...

, a

not-for-profit organisation A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and non-profit organizations (NPO ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

, which aimed to provide microfinance services to the marginalised, thereby driving financial inclusion. Ghosh holds a Master’s degree in Statistics.

Career

Ghosh started Bandhan-Konnagar in 2001. The

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

extended

micro-credit Microcredit is the extension of very small loans (microloans) to impoverished borrowers who typically do not have access to traditional banking services due to a lack of collateral, steady employment, and a verifiable credit history. The primar ...

to marginalised women to help them become entrepreneurs. In 2009, the

microfinance Microfinance consists of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses (SMEs) who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; saving ...

portfolio Portfolio may refer to: Objects * Portfolio (briefcase), a type of briefcase Collections * Portfolio (finance), a collection of assets held by an institution or a private individual * Artist's portfolio, a sample of an artist's work or a ...

of the

was transferred to the

NBFC A non-banking financial institution (NBFI) or non-bank financial company (NBFC) is a financial institution that is not legally a bank; it does not have a full banking license or is not supervised by a national or international banking regulator ...

, which Bandhan had acquired in 2006. Gradually, the organisation expanded its operations to various states of the country. In 2010, Bandhan became the largest microfinance institution in India. In 2014, Bandhan received an in-principle approval from the

Reserve Bank of India Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is the central bank of the Republic of India, and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system and Indian rupee, Indian currency. Owned by the Ministry of Finance (India), Min ...

to set up a universal bank. The final licence was obtained in June 2015.

started operations on August 23, 2015, with Ghosh as the MD & CEO where he served till 9 July 2024. This is the first-ever instance of an Indian

microfinance institution Microfinance consists of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses (SMEs) who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; saving ...

becoming a

universal bank A universal bank is a type of bank which participates in many kinds of banking activities and is both a commercial bank and an investment bank as well as providing other financial services such as insurance. These are also called full-service ...

. Incidentally,

is also the first bank to be set up in

Eastern India East India is a region consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The states of Bihar and West Bengal lie on the Indo-Gangetic plain. Jharkhan ...

since

Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

. Besides being the former Chairman of The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Eastern Region, and the former President of Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCC&I), he is also associated with various other industry bodies.

Awards

* 'Senior Ashoka Fellow' – social entrepreneurship award – in 2007 by Ashoka Foundation *'Entrepreneur with Social Impact' 2014 by Forbes India Leadership Awards * ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ 2014 by The Economic Times *CNN-IBN ‘Indian of the Year’ in 2016 in the Business category *‘Banker of the Year’ for 2018-19 by Business Standard

Personal life

Ghosh’s wife, Nilima, is an entrepreneur. His son, Angshuman, is currently a management student in England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghosh, Chandra Shekar Living people 1960 births Businesspeople from Kolkata University of Dhaka alumni Bandhan Bank People from Sipahijala district Indian social entrepreneurs