Chennai, May 18 (Reporter) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved Mr. Pradeep Natarajan's joining IDFC FIRST Bank Ltd. as Whole Time Director. Mr. Natarajan will serve a three-year term in this role, a release from IDFC said. This decision follows an earlier notification from the bank dated December 30, 2023. In a letter dated May 16, 2024, the RBI confirmed its approval for Mr. Natarajan's appointment, designating him as bank Executive Director for the next three years. IDFC FIRST Bank will now undertake the necessary steps to formalize Mr. Natarajan's appointment. However, this appointment will still require the approval of the bank's shareholders. IDFC FIRST Bank has transformed from infrastructure to retail banking in four years since merger, increasing CASA ratio from 8.7% to 46.4% (September 30, 2023). Total Customer Deposits have increased by 4X from Rs. 39,602 crores at the time of merger as of December 31, 2018, to Rs. 1,64,726 crores as of September 30, 2023. The Bank has set up 862 branches and 1,111 ATMs. The Bank recorded a PAT of Rs. 1,516 crore (RsUS$ 185 million) in H1-FY24, with strong Capital Adequacy of 18.06%, including Rs. 3000 crores of fresh equity capital raised in October 2023. The Bank has high asset quality, with Retail, Rural & SME book having Gross NPA of only 1.53% and Net NPA of 0.52% as of September 30, 2023. Overall Gross NPA including infrastructure is 2.11% and Net NPA is 0.68%. The Bank is highly committed to ESG. The Bank has high governance scores, the business lines naturally support social goals, and efforts are ongoing to achieve environmental goals...////...