AURUNDHATI BHATTACHARYA TO BE SBI CHIEF?

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister, has suggested that the Finance Ministry interview all the four SBI Managing Directors for the post of Chairman of the country's largest bank. The incumbent Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri is retiring next month. The Finance Ministry had sought exemption in regulatory guidelines so that more candidates could be interviewed for the top post in State Bank of India (SBI). Based on the exemption sought, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) suggested that the Finance Ministry invite all the four MDs for interview, sources said. ACC comprises the Home Minister and the administrative ministry in-charge (the Finance Ministry in this case). As per the existing norms, a candidate for the post of Chairman is eligible for the interview only if he/she has at least two years of service left before retirement. Going by this rule, only one of the four Managing Directors, Arundhati Bhattacharya, is eligible for the post of the Chairman of the bank. Another Managing Director A Krishna Kumar has one year and three months left before his retirement. He will retire in November next year, while Bhattacharya recently elevated as MD will retire in March 2016. The term of senior-most Managing Director Hemant Contractor, who is group executive for international banking, ends in February next year. S Viswanathan, MD in-charge of subsidiaries and associates, will retire in April 2014. Prior to her elevation, Bhattacharya was MD and Chief Executive of SBI Caps, the merchant banking subsidiary of SBI. Earlier this month, seven CGMs were elevated as Deputy MDs: V G Kannan, Jeevandas Narayan, N Jambunathan, Krishnamachari, S A Ramesh Rangan, Praveen Kumar Malhotra and Jibendu Narayan Misra. The SBI top deck comprises the chairman, four MDs, 12 deputy MDs and over 35 CGMs. Prior to the elevation, Kannan was President and Chief Operating Officer at SBI Caps, Misra was Chief General Manager (Maharashtra & Goa circle) and P K Malhotra was Chief General Manager (CGM) for project finance.