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Corporate leaders, former bureaucrats and bankers are set to be appointed as non-executive chairmen in public sector banks (PSBs) as the government is in the last lap of finalising the names. The move comes after the government decided to split the post of chairman and managing director in PSBs last December.
According to sources, G Padmanabhan, executive director (ED) at Reserve Bank of India (RBI), might be made the chairman of Bank of India (BoI), while M Balachandran, former chairman of Bank of India could head to Indian Overseas Bank (IOB). As an ED, Padmanabhan looks after departments like payments and settlements, information and technology and foreign exchange.
Balachandran, who is currently the chairman of National Payments Corporation of India, was chairman and managing director of Bank of India between 2005 and 2008.
Sumit Bose, former revenue and disinvestment secretary, is tipped to be the non-executive chairman of Punjab National Bank (PNB), while G C Chaturvedi, former petroleum secretary, could head for Gurgaon-based Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC).
The other names that are doing the rounds are of B Sambhamurty, former chairman of Corporation Bank, and Ravi Venkateshan, a board member of Infosys and AB Volvo.
Last December, the government decided to split the post of chairman and managing director into managing director and chief executive officer (MD & CEO) and non-executive chairman, following which MD & CEOs were appointed at four banks - OBC, IOB, United Bank of India and Vijaya Bank. Later, the government decided to split the post at five large banks - PNB, BoI, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda (BoB) and IDBI Bank applications were invited from candidates for the post of MD & CEO. In addition, the chairman posts at Syndicate Bank and Andhra Bank are vacant. Andhra Bank's CMD C VR Rajendran superannuated in April.
The posts of MD & CEO at four PSBs are vacant. In addition, the top post at BoI - which reported a loss of Rs 56 crore in the Jan-March quarter - will fall vacant on June 1, while IDBI Bank's current CMD will retire at the end of next month.
The posts of MD & CEO post at large banks like PNB, BoB, and Canara Bank have been vacant for more than six months.
Sources said the government got a wake-up call after BoI - a large bank having a total business Rs 9.5 lakh crore - reported a loss. The government has now decided to fast-track the appointment process of MD & CEOs of large banks and will conduct interviews in the second week of June.
In addition, the government has also started the appointment process of MD & CEOs at smaller banks. It has asked information on all the existing EDs to start the short-list process.
