Govt set to reconstitute banks bureau shortly

The government is in the process of reconstituting the Banks Board Bureau (BBB) after the term of the parttime members of the bureau ended on March 31, a senior finance ministry official said on Wednesday.

"We are considering the names of members of the BBB and it will be formed shortly," the official said.

The government had set up the BBB in 2016 to improve governance of public sector banks.

The government had appointed former comptroller and auditor general of India Vinod Rai as chairman of the bureau and for- mer chairman and MD of Bank of Baroda Anil K. Khandelwal, former joint MD of ICICI Bank HN Sinor and former MD and CEO of CRISIL Rupa Kudwa as part-time members for a two-year period.

The bureau, which was the first step towards creating a holding company structure for state-owned banks, was primarily responsible for search and selection of heads of public sector banks.

Although the bureau was also tasked with the responsibility of devising differentiated strategies and capital raising plans for public sector banks it was not consulted in such matters.

"Since we have infused much of capital into PSU banks already, going forward the BBB needs to play an important role in forming capital raising plans of stateowned banks," the official said. In October, the government announced a Rs 2.11 lakh crore recapitalisation plan for public sector banks over a period of two years.

Although BBB was tasked with the responsibility of devising differentiated strategies and capital raising plans for PSBs it was not consulted in such matters