(This story originally appeared in
on Feb 16, 2016)
NEW DELHI: The Centre is looking to rope in industry stalwarts such as
Ratan Tata,
NR Narayana Murthy,
Deepak Parekh and
Naina Lal Kidwai for its proposed Bank Board Bureau (BBB).
“This is a major step towards governance reforms in state-run banks and we want to ensure that credible and distinguished industry leaders are on this platform,” said a government official aware of the deliberations.
The proposed BBB, to be operational from April 1, will replace the appointment boards for naming whole-time directors and non-executive chairmen of public sector banks (PSBs).
It will also engage with the board of directors of all PSBs to formulate strategies for growth.
“Some names have been shortlisted for the consideration of the search committee. We are hoping to get a renowned industry leader for the chairman’s post,” said the government official quoted earlier.
Tata Sons Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata and Infosys cofounder Narayana Murthy have both, in the past one year, emerged as leading angel investors in the country.
Naina Lal Kidwai, after her stint with
HSBC, is on the boards of several organisations including Teri, and Deepak Parekh is the chairman of HDFC Ltd and a veteran of the banking industry.
The six-member panel will have three government officials and three experts, of which two will be from the banking sector.
The search committee includes the Reserve Bank of India governor, the
financial services secretary and the secretary in the department of personnel & training. BBB was announced by
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his
Budget speech last year.
The government is also looking at roping in past deputy governors of Reserve Bank of India and some former bureaucrats as other members of the board.
“It has to be a holistic board as its mandate is not only to select candidates but also guide banks on various aspects, such as business mix and even consolidation,” the official said.
Last week,
finance minister
Arun Jaitley had said the government will soon announce several reforms in the banking sector.
“We will be announcing a series of banking reforms in the days to come,” he said, without giving out any details. The government has maintained that BBB is the first step towards a holding company structure for state-run banks.
After the banking conclave, Gyan Sangam, held in January 2015, the
finance ministry had said the move will be followed by a Bank Investment Committee (BIC).