The appointment follows the retirement of current ED Rajiv Anand, and was approved by the Board based on the Nomination and Remuneration Committee’s recommendation.
The development confirms a CNBC-TV18 report on Thursday, when Axis Bank MD & CEO Amitabh Chaudhry, on the sidelines of the Q1 earnings call, hinted that the new ED would be finalised soon.
“We expect the new ED appointment to happen as Rajiv Anand retires,” Chaudhry said, adding the bank remains confident about outperforming the industry in credit growth.
Neeraj Gambhir, 52, currently serves as Group Executive – Treasury, Markets and Wholesale Banking Products. With over three decades of experience, Gambhir has held leadership positions at Nomura, Lehman Brothers, and ICICI Bank. He is also a member of key SEBI advisory committees and holds board positions at several Axis group companies.
Seperately, Arjun Chowdhry, Group Executive for Affluent Banking, Cards, Payments, and Retail Lending at Axis Bank, has resigned to pursue an entrepreneurial path. He will officially step down on August 31, 2025. In the regulatory filing, the bank acknowledged his contributions and wished him success in future endeavours.
Chowdhry’s exit marks the latest in a string of top-level departures from Axis Bank. This is the sixth senior-level exit at the bank in the past two years, including the upcoming retirement of Deputy MD Rajiv Anand.
The announcement comes a day after Axis Bank reported weaker-than-expected earnings for the June quarter.
Net interest income rose just 0.8% YoY to ₹13,560 crore, missing CNBC-TV18 estimates. Net profit declined 4% to ₹5,806 crore, against expectations of ₹6,217 crore. Asset quality also deteriorated, with gross NPAs rising to 1.57%.
Provisions surged to ₹3,947 crore, up sharply from ₹1,359 crore in Q4, driven partly by a ₹821 crore technical adjustment. Slippages doubled to ₹8,200 crore, with ₹2,709 crore attributed to technical impact.
As of 01:32 PM, shares of Axis Bank were trading nearly 5% lower at ₹1,102.80 on the NSE.