Surinder Singh Kohli is a distinguished name in Indian Banking. He started his career in Punjab &
Sind Bank in 1970 and rose to the position of Chairman & MD which lasted till 2000. In his tenure, Bank
transformed into a Profitable Bank against the loss making bank. In 2000 he was made the Chairman & MD
of Punjab National Bank for 5 years. During this period S. Kohli undertook total transformation for the
bank. PNB became a techno-savvy bank by implementing core banking solution and introducing various
technology-based products and services. PNB became the number One bank among the nationalized banks
in terms of assets, asset quality, technology, profit after tax and Return on assets. PNB also emerged as one of
India’s Most Trusted Brands. PNB Group floated three public offerings of capital during that period which
were highly successful. He was also the Chairman of PNB House Finance (2000-2001) and PNB Gilts (2000-
2005). He held Position of Chairman and MD of SIDBI during 2000-2001. During that period, various
schemes including Credit Guarantee Scheme for financing of small and medium enterprises were launched.
In addition, he was a Chairman of Indian Bank’s Association for two terms. It was because of his long
association with Banking that he was ranked 22nd in the list of India’s best CEO’s ranking over the period
1995 to 2011 by the Harvard business review record. The various other honours conferred upon him include
“Enterprises Transaction Award for Technology”, “Bank of the Year Award” for The Banker’s Magazine
of Financial Times, London for the year 2000. Best Bank Award for excellence in Banking Technology by
IDRDT Hyderabad for the year 2001. Best Bank Award for excellence on promotion of Kissan Credit Card
scheme IBA for the year 2002. National Award for excellence in S.S.I leading for three consecutive years
for Govt. of India, Golden Peacock Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance for the year 2001-2002,
B.H.U Distinguished Alumni’s Award 2003 and was Conferred Honorary Fellowship by India Institute of
Banking and Finance for contribution in the banking and finance. It is this immense contribution in banking
and finance that has made him a role-model banker of the country. Even presently, he is rendering his useful
services as a Director of various institution like Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC),
PTC India Financial Services Limited, IL & FS Financial Services Limited, IFIN, Reliance Infrastructure
Limited, The State Industrial & Investment Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (SICOM Limited), SVCL
Limited, ACB (India) Limited, and Seamec Limited, Essar Steel Limited etc. A Gursikh with such illustrious
achievement and adorable position definitely make the Sikhs proud and emerges as a great role-model
banker of not only of our country, but of the entire world.
