A Manimekhalai Leads UBI to New Heights

New Delhi: On August 9, Union Bank of India’s Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) A Manimekhalai handed over a cheque for a record dividend of Rs 1,712 crore to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. It was the highest dividend that the state-owned Union Bank of India has given in any financial year.

On June 2, 2022, the government appointed A Manimekhalai as the new MD and CEO of Union Bank of India for 3 years. And within a year, she has been able to change the pace of progress of the bank.

Leadership Counts:

In May 2023, Union Bank of India reported an 80.57% jump in March quarter net profit to Rs 2,811 crore. This was because of large-scale recoveries from written-off accounts.

The bank’s net profit in entire 2022-23 was Rs 8,512 crore against Rs 5,265 crore a year ago. Recoveries from accounts written off in the past soared to Rs 2,954 crore from Rs 294 crore past year.

A Manimekhalai proudly said, her bank started FY23 with a recovery target of Rs 15,000 crore, but exceeded its own expectations by recovering over Rs 20,000 crore of advances.

She is the flag bearer of women’s power in the financial sector in India. She has proved that Indian women like her can adequately manage the financial sector of the country and can surpass men in financial acumen.

Career Graph:

A Manimekhalai is a career banker, who rose to her present position through the ranks at various state-run banks.

She has an MBA from Bangalore University and a Diploma in Human Resource Management from Narsee Monjee lnstitute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai.

She started her banking career at the erstwhile Vijaya Bank as an Officer in 1988. In short period she took up positions like branch head, regional head and functional head of various departments at the corporate office of the bank.

She became the General Manager of Vijaya Bank and headed the Bangalore north region.

Before joining the Union Bank of India, she was the Executive Director of Canara Bank and was looking after strategic planning, credit, inspection, marketing and financial inclusion.

She played a key role in the successful amalgamation of Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank.

A Manimekhalai at the helm of affairs of the Union Bank of India has brought in skillful female representation in the banking sector, especially in key leadership roles. Her success is ushering an era of better overall participation of women in the workforce.

Interested in Odisha:

After taking charge in June 2022, MD & CEO of Union Bank A. Manimekhalai met Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik on August 4, 2022 to discuss on a wide range of topics including financial inclusion of the poor and disadvantaged. She is reported to have promised the CM to enhance Bank’s financial support to the farmers and SHGs.