'GOOD GOVERNANCE IS THE CORNERSTONE OF GOOD BUSINESS'

Shikha Hora Kamdar, head, retail assets & ESG, IDFC FIRST Bank, talks about how the bank is integrating sustainability in its operations

Can you give an overview of IDFC FIRST Bank's approach to environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies? How is it integrated into the business?

At IDFC FIRST Bank, our approach to ESG primarily straddles three key priorities—integrating ESG into our products and services, ingraining sustainability within the organisation and aligning to global and national frameworks on ESG. We also believe that good governance is the cornerstone of good business. Towards this extent, we have the Stakeholders’ Relationship, ESG and Customer Service [SRECS] Board Committee and a dedicated management committee, steering ESG at the bank.

The core of our operations revolves around ‘Always You First’ customer philosophy. A unique proposition in this regard is our offering of 28 fee-free banking services, monthly interest credits, never expiring reward points among others.

From a lending angle, we have demonstrated our commitment to financial inclusion by being a truly universal bank. As part of our rural banking, we serve over 85,000 villages and over 12,000 pincodes, touching 8 million households across India.

We have also built a high-quality WASH [water, sanitation and hygiene] financing portfolio, where we have disbursed over 3.5 lakh loans. We were also early movers in the electric vehicles [EV] space. Today, in two-wheelers alone, we have a current portfolio of 1.9 lakh loans.

From an operational perspective, we are concentrating on making our infrastructure greener and sustainable. Several of our large offices are LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] and IGBC [Indian Green Building Council] certified, with our corporate head office in Mumbai rated at IGBC Platinum. To reduce our carbon footprint, we have also adopted green power in our head office.