The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of Vikram Sahu as the chief executive officer of Bank of America NA (BoFA) in India.

Sahu will assume the charge in addition to his current responsibilities as India country executive.

He will replace Kaku Nakhate, who has led the business for 15 years in the country. Nakhate will become the Chair, India and focus on deepening key client relationships, news agency PTI reported.

Sahu had assumed the overall leadership of the India franchise earlier this year and the appointment as the CEO was awaiting regulatory nod.

He has been involved in guiding the US-headquartered bank's country leadership team (CLT), focusing on governance and regulatory matters, meeting key clients, and reinforcing the bank's 'responsible growth' approach since assuming the overall leadership earlier this year.

As the India CEO, Sahu will chair the entity's local management team, be a member of its Asia Pacific executive committee and also chair the India CLT.

Reporting to president of Asia Pacific Jin Su, Sahu will continue to have oversight of the entity's strategic growth plan.

Sahu, who was serving as the head of global equity research out of New York before the India assignment, is an alumnus of St Stephen's College in New Delhi.

He went to the US for his master's degree and has had a three-decade experience with roles in India, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States and Europe.