3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Mar 19, 2026 03:56 PM IST
HDFC Bank is “strong” and has strong fundamentals, Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju said on Thursday, a day after Atanu Chakraborty resigned as the private sector lender’s Parttime Chairman and independent director.
“HDFC Bank is a strong institution with strong fundamentals. The RBI has already issued a statement,” Nagaraju told reporters.
Late Wednesday, HDFC Bank informed stock exchanges that Chakraborty had resigned from the position he had held for nearly five years with immediate effect. He said in his resignation letter that “certain happenings and practices within the bank are not in congruence with my personal values and ethics”.
“This is the basis of my aforementioned decision. I confirm that there are no other material reasons for my resignation other than those states above,” he added.
Chakraborty’s sudden resignation sent shares of the country’s largest private sector bank sharply lower on Thursday and they fell almost 9% from Wednesday’s close to Rs 770 before recovering somewhat to end 5.1% lower at Rs 800. The fall in the banking major was enough to drag down other lenders as well as the benchmark Nifty index, which crashed more than 3%.
In it’s statement, issued around 11am on Thursday, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said HDFC Bank has sound financials, a professionally-run board, and competent management team. “Basis our periodical assessment, there are no material concerns on record as regards its conduct or governance. The bank remains well-capitalised and the financial position of the bank remains satisfactory with sufficient liquidity,” the Indian banking regulator said.
Following Chakraborty’s resignation, Keki Mistry – who was the Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Housing Development Finance Corporation before its merger with HDFC Bank in July 2023 – has taken charge as Interim Parttime Chairman of HDFC Bank for a period of three months. The bank said in an exchange filing that the RBI had granted its approval for Mistry’s appointment on Wednesday. Chakraborty’s resignation letter is dated Tuesday.
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Earlier on Thursday, Mistry said there has been no power struggle within the bank and there has been no discussion with regards to governance within the board of directors. Stating that the bank’s board is united, Mistry said it had not witnessed “any kind of complete difference in opinion” in its meetings.
“I think to my mind there could be a relationship issue between him and management. That may have been manifested over a period of time,” Mistry said in a conference call with analysts. “There were no specific happenings and practices that were brought to our attention. There were no specific operational or other issues that have been highlighted,” he said, adding that Chakraborty’s resignation had nothing to do with operational profitability of bank.
For the quarter ended December 2025, HDFC Bank posted a net profit of Rs 18,654 crore, up 11.5% from the last three months of 2024.
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