Mumbai, Nov. 17: Standard Chartered Bank today appointed Zarin Daruwala as the CEO of its Indian operations as it seeks to quell the growing tide of bad loans in its local business.

StanChart has recruited Daruwala from rival ICICI Bank where she was the president of the wholesale banking group. She replaces Sunil Kaushal, who has been elevated as the regional CEO for Africa and West Asia.

StanChart's loan impairment in India stood at $483 million in the first half of this year against $56 million a year ago.

A statement from the bank said Daruwala would be based in Mumbai and report to Ajay Kanwal, regional CEO of Asean & South Asia. Anurag Adlakha will continue as the acting India CEO, alongside his existing responsibilities as the chief financial officer, until Daruwala takes up her appointment subject to regulatory approvals.

"I am delighted Zarin Daruwala is joining Standard Chartered. With outstanding experience and relationships from more than 25 years in the industry, and her proven ability to deliver superior financial performance, Zarin is perfectly placed to seize the huge opportunities we see in India," Kanwal said.

"I'm confident Zarin will build on our more than 150 years of history and our leading position as India's largest foreign bank," he added.

As president of the wholesale banking group at ICICI Bank, India's top private sector lender, Daruwala led teams in corporate banking, project finance, structured finance and financial institutions, Standard Chartered said in a statement.

According to analysts, Daruwala has her work cut out at the bank as India was at one point of time the leading profit centre for Standard Chartered Plc until a prolonged slowdown, leading to rising bad loans, affected it.

As of September, the bank's loan exposure to the corporate sector stood at $33 billion, down 20 per cent from the first half of 2013. The bank, however, pointed out that 35 per cent of its exposure were to investment-grade clients.

It now decided to drive retail banking in Asean and South Asia to turn around its performance.

The British lender has reported an operating loss of $139 million in the third quarter. The bank then announced plans to cut 15,000 jobs globally and raise $5.1 billion through a rights issue.

A chartered accountant and company secretary, Daruwala was one of the top rankers in both the and ICAI courses and won the President's gold medal for the any secretary programme. She was named one of the top 25 powerful women in business by Fortune India.