Mr. Shaji K. V. has been serving as the Chairman of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) since December 2022, bringing with him over three decades of diverse experience across the financial sector, encompassing commercial banking, development finance, and rural banking.
Before assuming his current role, he served as Deputy Managing Director in NABARD, where he was instrumental in leading several strategic and institutional initiatives. His notable contributions include the creation of the Climate and Sustainability vertical, development of fintech engagement strategies, establishment of a data warehousing system, digitisation of banking supervision, process re-engineering, and strengthening of risk management frameworks.
Mr. Shaji brings with him over 10 years of board-level experience, having served on the boards of several prominent financial institutions. He currently sits on the boards of the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), and the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC). He also chairs the boards of NABARD’s two key subsidiaries: NABARD Consultancy Services Ltd. (NABCONS) and NABVENTURES Ltd., the Bank’s venture capital arm. In addition, he serves as Chairman of the Governing Council of the Bankers’ Institute of Rural Development (BIRD), Lucknow, and is a member of the governing bodies of the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), Ahmedabad, and the National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM), Pune.
He has served on the boards of several prominent institutions, including the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Canara HSBC Life Insurance Co. Ltd., and Canara Bank Securities Ltd. In addition, he has chaired three key subsidiaries of NABARD—NABKISAN Finance, NABFoundation, and NABSanrakshan. His leadership extends to the international arena as well, having served as Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA). He has also chaired multiple expert committees constituted by the Government of India on rural and cooperative banking reforms.
Before joining NABARD, Mr. Shaji had a distinguished 26-year career at Canara Bank, where he held several senior roles, including General Manager and Head of Business Development. He was instrumental in the successful amalgamation of Syndicate Bank with Canara Bank, one of the major consolidation exercises in the Indian banking sector. He also served as Chairman of Kerala Gramin Bank, which was then the largest Regional Rural Bank in the country.
Mr. Shaji holds a postgraduate degree in Agriculture and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) in Public Policy and Infrastructure Finance from IIM Ahmedabad. He is also certified in Treasury, Investment & Risk Management, is a Certified Associate of the Indian Institute of Banking and Finance (IIBF), and holds an NSE Certified Market Professional (NCMP) certification.