Know the woman who may lead the RBI next

A woman may take over as the RBI chief next for the very first time. Speculations were rife ever since Raghuram Rajan announced on June 18 that he will not apply for a second term with the RBI.

His tenure is set to end on September 4.

Who is Arundhati Bhattacharya?

A Bengali, hailing from Kolkata, Arundhati Bhattacharya studied English literature in Lady Brabourne college and Jadavpur University. Her husband was a professor at IIT-Kharagpur and the couple have a daughter.

[Read: RBI may get a new chief before Parliament's monsoon session ]

Early life and career

Arundhati started working in SBI as a probationary officer in 1977. Currently serving as the chairperson of the bank, Banerjee has seen the bank achieve milestones under her tenure. As the Chief General Manager of the Bank, she took many initiatives for the common mass and conceptualised products like SBI General Insurance, SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Fund and SBI SG Global Securities Private Ltd.

[Read: Chicago University welcomes Raghuram Rajan back to academics ]

Mobile banking and financial planning were also her visions. Considered a visionary, she was also the first woman chairperson in the history of SBI, thus making her the first woman in the country to lead a Fortune 500 company.

Other achievements

Some of her other achievements include:

• Recognition from the Forbes magazine in 2016 when it ranked her 25th in the list of world's 100 most powerful women.
• Under her leadership, SBI sent a notice to Vijay Mallya to declare Kingfisher as a "wilfull defaulter". In March 2016, the bank asked the Debt Recovery Tribunal to arrest Mallya, confiscate his passport and present the records of his assets.
• In 2015 she was ranked amongst the FP Top 100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy Magazine
• She was also named as the 4th most powerful woman in Asia Pacific by Fortune.
• he introduced a two-year sabbatical policy for women employees for child or elder care.