Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, August 2026 — Ashish Singh has been appointed Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Manappuram Finance Limited, bringing more than 25 years of experience across banking and financial services to the leadership role. His career spans retail liabilities, rural banking and lending, business strategy, product development, customer acquisition, cross-sell and channel innovation.
Prior to joining Manappuram Finance, Singh spent more than a decade with IDFC FIRST Bank, most recently serving as Head – Retail Liabilities from May 2025. Before taking on that responsibility, he was Head – Bharat Banking for nine years, from 2016 to 2025. His tenure at the bank provided extensive leadership exposure to financial services for India’s diverse consumer and emerging-market segments.
Earlier, Singh spent nearly a decade with Fullerton India Credit Company Ltd., where he progressed through roles including AVP – Strategic Initiatives, Product Head – Rural Lending & Insurance, and General Manager – Rural Finance. As General Manager, he headed sales, products and business strategy for Gramshakti, Fullerton India’s rural division. He was also part of the team that developed the rural business from its research and design stages through nationwide execution, building a customer base of more than 600,000 customers. His responsibilities encompassed rural credit, insurance, financial modelling, strategic alliances and new business opportunities.
Singh began his banking career with ICICI Bank, where he worked from 2001 to 2006. As Chief Manager – Cross Sell and Channel Innovation, he focused on improving customer acquisition economics and increasing customer wallet share, including designing and operationalising the bank’s “Loan on Phone” programme. Earlier, as Manager – CRM, he project-managed a large-scale Siebel CRM implementation spanning approximately 2,000 users and 300 sites, while working on call-centre technologies and integration with banking systems.
Alongside his extensive industry experience, Singh holds a PGDM in Systems and Marketing from the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, completed between 1999 and 2001. His combination of retail banking, rural finance, technology-enabled distribution, product innovation and strategic business development experience positions him to lead Manappuram Finance as it advances its growth and transformation agenda across gold loans and its broader financial-services portfolio.
About Manappuram Finance Limited
Manappuram Finance Limited is an Indian non-banking financial company with a longstanding presence in the gold-loan business. Founded in 1949 in Valapad, Thrissur district, Kerala, the business subsequently evolved into one of India’s prominent gold-loan companies, building an extensive branch network across the country. The company has also been an early adopter of technology and product innovation within the gold-loan segment.
Beyond its core gold-loan franchise, Manappuram has diversified into areas including microfinance, housing finance, vehicle finance, SME lending and insurance broking through its broader group businesses and subsidiaries. Its social-impact initiatives are supported by the Manappuram Foundation, established in 2009 to advance the company’s corporate social responsibility programmes.
Read Also : How HR Leaders Are Redefining Talent Development for the Future of Work
Selective Increments, Strategic Hiring: How AI Skills Are Reshaping India Inc’s Appraisal Cycle
From Org Charts to Skill Graphs: The Reinvention of Enterprise Design
Rethinking Talent in the Age of AI: Why Workforce Agility Starts with the 4Bs
The HR Leader’s Real AI Problem Is Not Adoption. It Is Architecture.
