MUMBAI: Former HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, in a candid disclosure, said that then ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar had proposed a merger between the two lenders – well before HDFC’s eventual reverse merger with its banking subsidiary. During an interaction with Kochhar on her channel, Parekh said: “I remember you talking to me once. I remember it very clearly. It’s never been talked about in public, but I’m willing to share it now. You said that ICICI started HDFC. ‘Why don’t you come back home?’ That was your offer.” Parekh said he declined the offer, saying “it won’t be fair” or “proper with our name and the bank and all”.Parekh said the eventual merger with HDFC Bank, completed in July 2023, was driven mainly by regulatory pressure. RBI had classified NBFCs like HDFC, then holding assets over Rs 5 lakh crore, as systemically important, breaching the Rs 50,000-crore threshold. “RBI supported us and they pushed us into it to some extent and they helped us,” he said. However, he added that there were “no concessions, no relief, no time, nothing”.Describing the day the merger concluded, Parekh called it “a sad day and a happy day”. He said, “It’s good for the institution. It’s good for the country to have large banks. Look at how large Chinese banks are. We have to be bigger, larger in India.” Parekh believes that Indian banks must grow through acquisitions to become stronger in future.On broader economic concerns, Parekh cited persistent uncertainty in supply chains, trade policy, and export conditions as top CEO concerns. Calling insurance the “least understood product”, Parekh criticised “mis-selling by banks” driven by high upfront commissions.
