T S Vijayan tipped to be next IRDA chief

Former LIC chief T S Vijayan is likely to be the next chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).

"Vijayan's name has been referred to CVC for clearance," a senior Finance Ministry official said.

If the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) clearance is received, Vijayan would succeed current chairman J Hari Narayan, who will retire on February 21.

After the CVC clearance is received, Vijayan's name would be referred to the Appointment Committee of Cabinet (ACC) for approval.

The others who are in the reckoning for the post include Petroleum Secretary G C Chaturvedi and Telecom Secretary R Chandrasekhar.

The tenure of the IRDA chairperson would be for five years or till the candidate attains the age of 65 years.

This would mark a comeback for Vijayan, who was battling corruption allegations with regard to investment decisions made by LIC during his tenure.

He was recently given a clean chit by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Finance Ministry.

In May 2011, Vijayan was removed from the post of LIC chairman and appointed managing director at the state-owned insurance giant after his five-year term expired.

The government had in October 2012 invited application from interested candidates for the post of IRDA chairman.

The pay and allowance of the new chairperson will be Rs 3.75 lakh per month without the facility of accommodation and car.

A search committee was set up to shortlist eligible candidates for the post. Members of the committee included Department of Financial Services Secretary D K Mittal and former SBI Chairman O P Bhatt.

Hari Narayan took over as IRDA chairman in June 2008.

Under him, IRDA has taken several important steps, including guidelines for listing of life insurance companies on stock exchanges, doing away with third party motor insurance pool and introducing portability of health insurance, for growth of the sector.