BBB recommends Ashwini Bhatia for post of SBI MD

The Banks Board Bureau (BBB) on Saturday recommended names of Ashwini Bhatia, M V Rao and P P Sengupta for the post of managing director of three state-owned lenders — State Bank of India, Central Bank of India, and Indian Overseas Bank, respectively.

Bhatia is currently serving as deputy managing director (DMD) at SBI, while Rao is executive director with Canara Bank.

The bureau members interfaced with 20 candidates from nationalised banks on May 30 for the position of managing director in State Bank of India and the position of MD and CEO of Indian Overseas Bank and Central Bank of India, an official statement said. Bhatia will be appointed in place of P K Gupta who superannuated on March 31, while Rao will replace Central Bank of India MD Pallav Mohapatra who will retire in February next year.

Sengupta, currently DMD SBI, will replace Indian Overseas Bank MD and CEO Karnam Sekar, who retires on June 30. With this exercise, the government has completed the process of appointment of head of PSU banks for the current fiscal.

The decision on the appointment will be taken by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BBB, the headhunter for stateowned banks and financial institutions, is headed by former Department of Personnel and Training Secretary B P Sharma.

The Prime Minister, in 2016, approved the constitution of BBB as a body of eminent professionals and officials to make recommendations for appointment of whole-time directors as well as non-executive chairpersons of public sector banks (PSBS).

It was also entrusted with the task of engaging with the board of directors of all PSBS to formulate appropriate strategies for their growth and development. Besides, it was asked to frame strategy discussion on consolidation based on requirement. The government wanted to encourage bank boards to restructure their business strategy and also suggest ways for their consolidation and merger with other banks.