Vaghul, doyen of Indian banking sector, dies at 88

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New Delhi, May 18

One of the doyens of the private Indian banking industry, N Vaghul, passed away in Chennai on Saturday at the age of 88. Reports said he was on ventilator support for some time. He is survived by his wife, daughter and son.

“Sincerely regret to inform you that Padma Bhushan Narayanan Vaghul sir, passed away this afternoon at Apollo Hospitals, Chennai,” said a statement from the family.

Vaghul had turned around ICICI from a struggling public finance institution to a vibrant private sector bank in his 11 years as its chairman and managing director (CMD) till 1996. Ten years after his retirement, Vaghul was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2006.

Vaghul began his career with the State Bank of India, but quit the job to begin teaching at the National Institute of Banking Management. He quit after serving as its director and joined as executive director in the state-owned Central Bank of India and became its youngest CEO at the age of 44 in 1981 before moving on to ICICI as its CMD during which he ensured its successful transition as a private sector bank.

Retiring in 1996, he served on boards of several top-notch private sector companies. One was Mahindra & Mahindra whose CEO Anand Mahindra described him as “Bhishma Pitamaha” and said “he never failed to show his enduring support & encouragement through good times and bad”.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said he made a “huge contribution to India’s financial sector”.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh described Vaghul as one of India’s most distinguished bankers who, he said, “played a crucial role in the financial sector reforms initiated by Dr Manmohan Singh as Finance Minister in late 1991.”