HDFC Bank

Ages ago (it seems), India had a nationalised banking system, and they used to treat customers like dirt. And for housing, there was no one to turn to for loans. Then Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) was set up and the rest is history. They became the pioneers of the housing finance industry in India. All others were imitators. Later on, the company ventured into banking for retail and corporate sectors. All through, they preserved their ethical standards of doing business. Briefly, we worked for the erstwhile HDFC as their market research agency when I worked in industry in the mid-eighties. I was struck by their professionalism and niceness towards everyone, customers and others, while dealing with the company.

The reason for such a long spiel about the company is that even today, they come across as a very honest, conservative bank- which is probably how a bank should be- if you don't want to send the financial world into a tailspin, that is. They have a program of recruiting managers for their fast-growing branches through a collaborative effort with select B schools, and IMT Nagpur is one of those B Schools.