Govt to soon fill top posts in key regulatory bodies
The appointments will have a bearing on the trajectory of India’s economic recoveryThe results of interviews for RBI’s deputy governor, held earlier this month, are awaited
NEW DELHI : Key bodies such as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), besides the State Bank of India (SBI), are set to have new people in top positions at a time that financial and sectoral regulations are increasingly becoming crucial for the survival of businesses grappling with the crisis.
The appointments are being keenly watched as financial regulation, calibration of the bankruptcy framework, ensuring that the benefit of the policy rate cuts passes on to the borrower, and policies governing the telecom sector are likely to have a bearing on the trajectory of India’s economic recovery.
On Friday, the Banks Board Bureau recommended the elevation of SBI’s managing director Dinesh Kumar Khara as the chairman of the country’s largest lender. Khara will take over from Rajnish Kumar, who will step down on 7 October, as per a statement released on Friday.
Khara, 59, who had joined SBI as a probationary officer in 1984, is credited with completing the merger of SBI with its five associate banks and Bhartiya Mahila Bank. Before becoming the MD, Khara was the chief executive of SBI Funds Management Pvt. Ltd.
Results of interviews for RBI’s deputy governor, which took place earlier this month, are awaited. The post became vacant after N.S. Vishwanathan, one of the four deputy governors, demitted office in March citing health reasons, just before his tenure was to end.
The Financial Sector Regulatory Appointment Search Committee, comprising the cabinet secretary, RBI governor, and the financial services secretary, interviewed the candidates. The responsibility of financial regulation falls on the now vacant post of deputy governor.
Search is also on for a new chairman for Trai, as the incumbent, R.S. Sharma, is expected to demit office on 30 September. The applications for the job include current and former secretaries to the government of India, senior officials from public sector undertakings, and experts from the private sector, Mint had reported on 23 July.
Sharma, 65, was appointed Trai chief in July 2015 and had got a two-year extension just a day before he was to retire on 10 August 2018. He before this led the creation of Aadhaar as the director-general and mission director of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) during 2009-2013.
The telecom sector is going through a turbulent phase with the Supreme Court of India on Monday reserving its order on the recovery of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues of insolvent telecom players.
gireesh.p@livemint.com
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