GIC may see a single CMD post

National reinsurer General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC) is likely to see a consolidation at the top with the chairman's post being replaced with a single chairman-cum-managing director (CMD).

The current managing director, P B Ramanujam, who joined in May 2002 from the Kolkata-based National Insurance Corporation, will retire in July 2004.

Ramanujam was a senior general manager at NIC. It is likely that the government will not fill the void created as a result of his exit and that a CMD may take over the reins.

Present chairman, P C Ghosh, is due to retire in January 2005. Ghosh was the managing director at GIC, who was appointed by the President as GIC chairman when D Sengupta retired.

Possibilities that the present post of chairman could also be turned into that of a CMD. It was also learnt that the new post of CMD at GIC will be made at par with present chairman and managing directors of the four national non-life insurers.

At present, the non-life insurance companies are headed by a single chairman and managing director and the post of Chairman at GIC is technically senior to the CMDs of the four companies.

This was the old structure when the four non-life insurance companies were subsidiaries of GIC.

Following dismantling of the four subsidiaries from GIC in 2000, the government is likely to make the post of CMD at par with CMD's of other national insurance companies.

This is part of the government's plan to change the focus of GIC to a sole reinsurer and the four subsidiaries as focused non-life insurers.

Initially, there were two managing directors and a chairman at GIC. The post of one managing director at the company was later abolished when D Sengupta retired and the then managing director - I, P C Ghosh was promoted to the chairman's post. Ramanujam, who was freshly recruited as managing director - II, remained as the MD of the reinsurance major.

In November 2000, GIC was renotified as the 'Indian Reinsurer' and through administrative instruction, its supervisory role over subsidiaries was ended.