HDFC Bank’s latest financial results reveal a strong credit growth, but the unexpected resignation of Chairman Atanu Chakraborty over ethical issues has raised concerns about the bank’s governance.
Photograph: Shailesh Andrade/Reuters
Key Points
- HDFC Bank reported a 12% credit growth, reaching Rs 29.6 lakh crore for the March quarter.
- Total deposits at HDFC Bank increased by 14.4% to Rs 31.05 lakh crore.
- Atanu Chakraborty abruptly resigned as chairman of HDFC Bank, citing ethical concerns.
- Chakraborty’s resignation raises questions about governance and practices within HDFC Bank.
- The merger of HDFC Ltd with HDFC Bank in 2023 created a financial giant with a combined balance sheet of over Rs 18 lakh crore.
The country’s second-largest lender HDFC Bank on Saturday reported a 12 per cent credit growth to Rs 29.6 lakh crore for the March quarter.
Its total advances were Rs 26.43 lakh crore at the end of March 31, 2025, HDFC Bank said in a regulatory filing.
The lender reported a 14.4 per cent rise in total deposits to Rs 31.05 lakh crore from Rs 27.14 lakh crore at the end of the fourth quarter of the preceding financial year.
During the period, CASA deposits recorded a growth of 12.3 per cent to Rs 10.6 lakh crore compared to Rs 9.4 lakh crore in the year-ago period, it said.
The bank’s period-end time deposits were approximately Rs 20.45 lakh crore as of March 31, 2026, a growth of around 15.5 per cent over Rs 17.7 lakh crore as of March 31, 2025.
Chairman’s Resignation
During the quarter, Atanu Chakraborty abruptly resigned as chairman of the HDFC Bank, citing ethical concerns effective March 18.
This is the first time that the part-time chairman of HDFC Bank left in the middle, raising concerns over the functioning.
“Certain happenings and practices within the bank, that I have observed over the last two years, are not in congruence with my personal Values and Ethics. This is the basis of my aforementioned decision,” he had said in his resignation letter dated March 17.
In a letter addressed to the Chairman of Governance, Nomination, and Remuneration Committee, H K Bhanwala, Chakraborty said that “there are no other material reasons for my resignation other than those stated above”.
It is to be noted that Chakraborty was appointed part-time chairman effective May 5, 2021, almost a year after retirement as Economic Affairs Secretary.
His term was extended for another three years in 2024 till May 4, 2027.
About Atanu Chakraborty
Chakraborty, a 1985 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, retired as Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs in April 2020.
Prior to that, he was the Secretary of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM). Both departments come under the Finance Ministry.
Chakraborty became chairman during the reverse merger process of the bank with the parent entity HDFC Ltd, a leading mortgage firm in the country.
The merger of HDFC Ltd with HDFC Bank became effective on July 1, 2023, creating a financial behemoth with a combined balance sheet of over Rs 18 lakh crore.
