Quotes from Chanda Kochhar

I have it all because my children did not whine and cry when I was not there.

I think I have it all. But I won't say that the credit for all that goes to me. I think the credit for all that goes to everybody around me. I mean, I have it all because my entire family is so cooperative. I have it all because my children did not whine and cry when I was not there. So, I think it's, you know, in a way, a two-way street.

Our focus is more on secured retail business like housing and car loans. While we will do some unsecured loans - credit cards and personal loans - we will do it primarily with existing customers.

We don't understand the equity market well, and so we deploy funds in fixed-income securities, and like any other securities, investment in those securities also need to follow the mark-to-market accounting principle.

My priorities are going to be to play a very balanced role in the sense that I have to keep an eye on the challenges in the environment. At the same time, I have to keep an eye on the optimism that is there for India.

Make sure you have that conviction to do what you know is right, and once you have it, don't let skeptics distract you from your path.

An entrepreneur, whether man or woman, has to be willing to take help, whether financial or technical, to grow his or her business.

We have a vision of a strong and prosperous India and an equally strong belief that this vision is achievable.

I learnt to always keep my mind open to new ideas and looked at each new assignment as an opportunity to learn and prove myself.

I thought work and family complete life. Aarti's enthusiasm and energy levels made me realise that life can be even more wholesome and fuller.

My father, in a way, was a mentor in the way he instilled the basic values and ethics in me. My mother was a mentor by showing me an example to say that if women have tenacity, they can achieve whatever they have to.

You can maintain work-life balance even while pursuing careers.

Lending has come back in retail; it has come back in working capital. It has also come back in other forms, like government contract being given out to companies.

Thankfully I have an ecosystem of in-laws, parents and husband, who are my rocks.

Every quarter, we need to see the portfolio and follow the accounting practice of mark-to-market that values investments according to the prevailing market prices and at the price at which they are made.

When commercial banking opened up for the private sector, I set up the retail-banking division for ICICI and grew it substantially. I then ran the international side of the ICICI Bank for a few years.

The global market does not understand the India risk as well as we do, and therefore, we have the arbitrage facility of making better margin on the same set of Indian firms than what we would have made by giving rupee loans.

Nobody likes high interest rates.

We are monitoring the global companies on a daily basis, and their rating continues to be investment grade. We will take immediate action if anything goes wrong.

We have no exposure in Europe and not made any finances to the companies there. So the question of Greek debt crisis impacting the bank does not arise.

One thing I would say about the Indian consumer is that as much change and as much technology, innovation that you offer to the Indian consumer, the Indian consumer is very receptive and actually keep expecting more, and we have had that great experience.

Over the years, we have gone beyond our businesses to take up philanthropic projects in diverse areas - from education to health care to skilling.

While working hard for my career, I looked after my family and have been there for my mother and in-laws when they needed me around. They reciprocated in kind with their unconditional love and support for my career.

She worked hard till she saw all of us through college and we became independent. I never knew that my mother had such a wealth of self-assurance and belief within her.