A young boy from a village in present-day Telangana learns all the nuances of lending money and recovering it even as he is picking up elementary mathematics at school. The boy and his brother assist their father – who runs a grocery store in the village and also lends small amounts of money to village folks – in collecting the debt lent to villagers. Years later, after basic schooling and higher studies, the boy joins State Bank of India (SBI). Moving up the hierarchy through sheer hard work, that young boy is now set to occupy the corner office of India’s largest bank.

Meet Challa Sreenivasulu Setty, the same young boy from Telangana’s Peddapothulapadu village, who will be taking over as the chairman of SBI on August 29. Mr Setty – currently the managing director of SBI in charge of international banking, global markets and technology verticals – will be succeeding Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara, who will be superannuating on August 28.

An agriculture science graduate from Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University near Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, the 58-year-old banker (Mr Setty will be 59 on September 26) is also a certified associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers. Young Setty began his career with SBI in 1988 as a probationary officer. Over the past 35 years, the SBI veteran has risen through the ranks and occupied many vital positions at the bank.

In January 2020, Mr Setty was appointed managing director of the country’s largest lender. He has had rich experience in corporate credit, retail, digital and international banking and banking in developed markets. He has also headed various task forces and committees formed by the Union government.

Soft spoken, versatile and a people’s man, Mr Setty is often seen seeking feedback from customers about the bank’s services, shortcomings and suggestions for improvement. Besides, his present and past colleagues stress that the senior banker is known to speak out his mind but does it very politely and respectfully.

As Mr Setty assumes charge of the topmost post of the country’s largest bank, he will definitely be looking to grow SBI’s business manifold. Banking analysts note that SBI will particularly have to get more aggressive in growing its deposit and loan books as private lenders and many new-age banks are scaling up their businesses quite rapidly. Aggressive efforts to expand SBI’s business should go on despite that fact that the bank’s balance sheet of over Rs 62 lakh crore is more than the GDP of around 175 countries of the world. His priorities would also include sprucing up the bank’s technology and digital backbone to stay ahead in the race.

It is quite fortunate that Mr Setty has in the past been in charge of digital banking and knows that segment like the back of his hand. Moreover, the top banker has always been alert to the views of his customers to ensure that they are fully satisfied with the bank’s services. So, SBI’s quest for digital upgrade and its measures to ensure that its customers are happy will continue with greater vigour with Mr Setty in the corner office.

Over half a century ago, the new SBI chief learnt the first lessons of lending out in the field as a young boy. Those lessons will perhaps keep guiding Mr Setty as he assumes his new role as the SBI chief.