Cvc To Soon Suggest Name For Idbi Cmd

The Central Vigilance Commissioner is expected to give his recommendation on the candidature for the chairman and managing director of Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) by the end of this week. The finance ministry has sent National Housing Board chairman PP Vora's name for vigilance clearance by CVC.

N Vittal, Central Vigilance Commissioner told Business Standard today that the CVC had received the note from the finance ministry in August first week. "I am waiting for some more information," he said adding that a final view would be taken in the next couple of days.

The IDBI chairman's slot has been vacant for over six months since G P Gupta's superannuation on January 31. Since then the financial institution has had two successive acting chairmen in S K Chakravarti who retired on July 31 and the present incumbent S K Kapur who was appointed as the whole-time director on the last day of Chakrabarti's tenure.

Finance minister Yashwant Sinha had said on July 9 in a press conference that the appointment of UTI and IDBI chiefs would be finalised within a fortnight. While the government appointed M Damodaran, officer on special duty, Reserve Bank of India as the UTI chairman, it had failed on appointing a head for IDBI.

The appointments committee of cabinet had cleared the selection of Vora as the new IDBI chief but at the last moment the finance minister decided to hold back the notification in the absence of a vigilance clearance.

Vora was initially number two on the panel of names recommended by a selection committee comprising Reserve Bank of India governor Bimal Jalan and finance secretary Ajit Kumar with Industrial and Investment Bank of India chairman and managing director Basudev Sen occupying the top slot in the panel of candidates which also comprised IDBI executive director V P Singh.

Minister of state for finance Balasaheb Vikhe Patil, however, expressed his opposition to Sen's candidature prompting Sinha to even brief prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the appointment just two days before Chakrabarti's tenure was to expire.