Govt appoints KV Kamath as chairperson of newly set up Rs 20,000-cr DFI

Centre to appoint its two nominees this week

The government on Wednesday appointed veteran banker K V Kamath as the chairperson of the newly set up government-owned development finance institution (DFI) National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development.

The appointment has been done in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), an official said. The government will also appoint its two nominees this week, and other board members would be appointed by the interim board of the DFI.

The DFI would have a chairman, two government nominees, and four whole-time directors. Wholetime directors will include a chief executive officer (CEO) and three other members. The interim board of the institution would also undertake the selection process of a CEO and deputy CEO, the official said. This process would start soon as the government aims to make the DFI operational by December.

The appointment of the former banker comes at a time when the government is looking to give a big push to infrastructure through its National Infrastructure Pipeline as the economy recovers from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kamath was the first president of the New Development Bank (NDB), and headed the multilateral institution until last year. He also headed private lender ICICI Bank for 13 years, and is credited for making it the second-largest private lender in the country. The private sector lender was initially set up as a DFI in 1955.

The DFI will be set up with an initial paid-up capital of Rs 20,000 crore so that it can leverage around Rs 3 trillion from the markets in a few years to provide long-term funds to infrastructure projects as well as for development needs of the country.

The government will give Rs 5,000 crore as grant to the institution in the form of reimbursement on taxes paid on the bonds issued by the institution.