R Shailesh Unnithan started his career in State Bank of India in the year 1995 as a Probationary Officer and has handled several prestigious assignments across various verticals of the Bank. He has extensive experience in Corporate Credit, Retail banking, Branch operations and Trade Finance in India and abroad. Currently, Mr Unnithan is the Chief General Manager of the ESG & Climate Finance Unit of the Bank. In this role, he is tasked with spearheading the Bank’s initiatives in the ESG and Climate Finance space and charting out the Bank’s pathway to Net Zero. The major responsibilities include capacity building and awareness creation within the Bank, formulation of ESG / Climate related policies, facilitating development of assets and liabilities products in the green / sustainability space, raising Green Lines of Credit (LoCs) from Multilaterals/ DFIs and deployment, engagement with policy makers/ regulators/ industry bodies in related matters as also compliance with regulatory reporting. His last two assignments include, heading the Commercial Clients Group (CCG), South India and the Project Finance and Structuring (PF & SSBU) Team of the Bank. The mandate of the CCG vertical is to cater to all needs of large corporate clients, to manage associated risks and sustain growth. Meanwhile, the PF & SSBU deals with the appraisal and arrangement of funds for large projects in infrastructure and other sectors such as Power, Roads, Ports, Railways, Airports, amongst others. It also, provides inputs to various Ministries of Government of India and the RBI with respect to Policies and other issues faced in infrastructure finance. Mr Unnithan is a Commerce graduate, and holds an Executive MBA from SPJIMR, Mumbai. He is committed to driving innovation, enhancing customer experience and promoting sustainable financial practices at SBI.