Economic growth in China ‘clearly visible’ across cities: KV Kamath tells Network18 after stint in New Development Bank

In an exclusive interview to Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, veteran banker KV Kamath said the economic growth in China is ‘clearly visible’ across all cities. His comments were in response to a question about border tensions between India and China.

Amid the border tensions, many have compared the economic growth seen in both countries.

Kamath, 72, a mechanical engineer by training and an alumnus of IIM-Ahmedabad, was being spoken of as someone whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi may tap for a senior role in the Indian government.

The veteran banker was the CEO of India’s second-largest private-sector lender ICICI Bank for 13 years until 2009, and the chairman of Infosys for nearly four years till 2015. In a career of nearly half a century, he has amassed a deep knowledge of high finance and the broader economy while also maintaining close connections with India Inc.

Kamath worked with the Asian Development Bank in Manila for eight years before taking the top job at ICICI Bank. His multilateral finance credentials were further burnished with his latest assignment, a five-year stint as the founding-president of the five-nation New Development Bank in Shanghai. The latter will be particularly valuable now, given the state of relations with India’s cantankerous eastern neighbour.