Finance Ministry seeks relaxation in selection norms for SBI chief post

NEW DELHI: The Finance Ministry has sought relaxation in the eligibility norms for selection of SBI Chairman so as to have more candidates to interview for the top post at the country's largest bank.

"To have suitable panel of candidates, we have requested Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) for exemption in regulatory guidelines," Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Takru told PTI.

ACC, which comprises of Home Minister, the administrative ministry in-charge, is headed by the Prime Minister.

The current Chairman of the State Bank of India, Pratip Chaudhuri, is to retire next month.

As per the existing norms a candidate is eligible for the interview of the post of the Chairman if he/she has at least two years of service left before the retirement.

As per the guidelines only one of the four Managing Directors, Arundhati Bhattacharya, is eligible for the post of the Chairman of the bank.

However, there have to be at least two candidates in the selection process. Therefore, if the residual service period norm is relaxed, others could also appear for the interview, according to officials.

The other Managing Director A Krishna Kumar has one year and three months left before the retirement. He will retire in November next year, while Bhattacharya recently elevated as MD will retire on March 31, 2016.

Prior to her elevation, Bhattacharya was MD and chief executive of SBI Caps, the merchant banking subsidiary of SBI.

The term of senior-most Managing Director Hemant Contractor, who is group executive for international banking, ends in February next year, while S Viswanathan MD in-charge of subsidiaries and associates will retire by April 2014.

Earlier this month, seven CGMs were elevated as deputy MDs: V G Kannan, Jeevandas Narayan, N Jambunathan, Krishna Machari, 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 for project finance.

Kumar's new posting came following the vacancy created by the resignation of Santosh B Nayar, who joined the state-run infra lender IFCI as MD and CEO in mid-July.