New Delhi, Jan 25 (PTI) Former SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya, who has been conferred with the Padma Shri, said on Saturday that the award is an acknowledgement of the role public sector banks play in nation-building and that she feels truly humbled to receive the honour.

In 2013, Bhattacharya became the first woman to lead the State Bank of India (SBI) in its over 200-year history.

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She is among the 139 Padma awardees whose names were announced on the eve of the 76th Republic Day on Saturday. President Droupadi Murmu approved conferment of seven Padma Vibhushan, 19 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri awards.

The awards are conferred by the President at a ceremonial function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, usually around March-April every year.

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"I am truly humbled, it is a great honour. This award is an acknowledgement of the role public sector banks (PSBs) play in nation-building. I am taking this on behalf of all PSBs," Bhattacharya told PTI soon after the Padma Awards were announced.

During her tenure at SBI, Bhattacharya was credited with ushering in the digital transformation era at the company. Under her leadership, SBI went on to be voted as one of India's top three best places to work.

She retired from SBI in 2017 and started her second innings as the chairperson and CEO of cloud-based service provider Salesforce India in 2020.

With 40-plus years of experience in India's financial sector across varied roles and diverse national and international locations, Bhattacharya has also earned a string of accolades and figured in 'The World's 100 Most Powerful Women' by Forbes, 'Top 50 Globally Most Powerful Women in Business' and 'World's 50 Greatest Leaders' list by Fortune.

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