Sachin Bansal quits Ujjivan Small Finance Bank board

Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal has resigned from the board of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank after a company he owns sought banking licence from Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Bansal resigned as an independent director with effect from January 27, 2020. He had joined the board on June 1, 2019, according to the bank’s annual report.


Bansal’s banking plan came to light earlier this month when International Finance Corporation (IFC) said it would pick up 4.5 per cent stake in Navi Technologies Pvt Ltd, his main investment vehicle, for Rs 210 crore. The investment values Navi Technologies at around $660 million.

A bank would be the natural extension for Bansal after he decided to acquire Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) Chaitanya Rural Intermediation Development Services Pvt Ltd last year. Bansal had agreed to invest Rs 739 crore in Chaitanya Rural and take charge as its CEO.

The banking application was filed by Chaitanya Rural unit Chaitanya India Fin Credit Pvt Ltd. It currently provides loan to low-income customers in rural areas largely on the joint-liability-group lending model.

The banking application shows Bansal’s intent to build a financial services group. Previously, he has made debt or equity investments in companies such as Kissht, Lendingkart Finance Ltd, Northern Arc Capital Ltd and IndoStar Capital Finance Ltd. Sachin Bansal is also acquiring DHFL General Insurance Ltd from Wadhawan Global Capital. He had also invested Rs 650 crore in ride-hailing company Ola.

Bansal had started Flipkart along with Binny Bansal in 2007 and sold it to Walmart Inc. at a staggering valuation of almost $21 billion. Ever since, he has been deploying $1 billion he got by divesting his own stake in Flipkart to invest in financial services or Financial Technology (FinTech) companies.