India’s central bank approved the appointment of Pranav Chawda as chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s local banking unit for a period of three years. Chawda, who heads commercial banking, will expand his current responsibility to become head of the corporate banking entity, according to a statement from the US lender on Wednesday. The position fell vacant after former CEO Prabdev Singh stepped down before the end of his term. Chawda’s experience “will enable him to play a pivotal role in driving corporate banking business forward as we explore and capitalize on the numerous opportunities that India presents,” said Kaustubh Kulkarni, the firm’s senior country officer for India and vice chairman for Asia Pacific.Chawda, a chartered accountant, started his career in 1995 as an assistant manager in Deloitte, according to his LinkedIn profile. He joined JPMorgan in 2019 as head of client banking and specialized industries that serve mid-sized, India-headquartered companies. Before that, he was a managing director for institutional banking at DBS Bank in India.The Wall Street firm traces its physical presence in India back to 1945 when its predecessor Chase National Bank opened a representative office in Mumbai, according to its website. It currently has offices in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.