HDFC Ltd chairman and chief executive officer Deepak Parekh will be resigning from the company effective 31 December.

Mr Parekh has been with the Indian financial services firm for 16 years. According to a statement Friday, Mr Parekh will remain as the company's non-executive chairman even after his departure.

The current vice chairman and managing director, Keki Mistry, will take over as CEO starting 1 January, 2010. Mr Mistry will retain his vice chairman title but will relinquish managing directorial duties to Renu Sud Karnad, currently the joint managing director.

Mr Parekh is a widely respected figure in the Indian financial industry. He is credited for leading HDFC into becoming one of the most stable mortgage lenders in the country, even during the global financial crisis. During his term, HDFC was also able to branch out to other market segments, particularly banking, real estate funds, and life and general insurance.

At present, the bank has a distribution network of 1,506 branches in 635 cities. As of the half year to 30 September, it reported a net profit of Rs 1,293.6 crores, up 30.4 per cent from the previous corresponding period.