Modi Cabinet appoints 10 MDs & CEOs at state-owned banks - 5 of them at SBI

Mrutyunjay Mahapatra and Padmaja Chundru are among five deputy managing directors in State Bank of India who have been appointed as managing director and chief executive officer of Syndicate Bank and Indian Bank respectively, according to an official order issued on Wednesday.

They are among 10 MDs and CEOs of state-owned banks whose appointments were approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mahapatra and Chundru will have tenure till the date of their superannuation, i.e. May 31, 2020 and August 31, 2021, respectively, the order issued by the Personnel Ministry said.

Three other Dy MDs of SBI -- Pallav Mohapatra, J Packirisamy and Karnam Shekhar -- have also been appointed as MD and CEO of Central Bank of India, Andhra Bank and Dena Bank, respectively.

They all will have tenure till the date of their superannuation.

Mohapatra and Packirisamy's tenure will last till February 28, 2021. Shekhar will be the MD and CEO of Dena Bank till June 30, 2020.

The move to appoint five deputy managing directors from SBI is being seen as the government's effort to tap into the talent from the country's largest lender to help other banks grappling with high non-performing assets, officials said.

Besides these five bankers, S S Mallikarjuna Rao has been appointed MD and CEO of Allahabad Bank initially for a period of three years. Rao's tenure will be extendable up to the date of his superannuation, i.e. January 31, 2022, the order said.

He is the Executive Director of Syndicate Bank.

A S Rajeev, Executive Director of Indian Bank, has been named MD and CEO of Bank of Maharashtra for an initial period of three years and extendable up to two years after "review of his performance", it said.

Atul Kumar Goel and S Harisnakar have been appointed MD and CEO in UCO Bank and Punjab & Sind Bank respectively. Goel is ED, Union Bank of India, and Harisankar is the Executive Director of Allahabad Bank.

Ashok Kumar Pradhan will be MD and CEO of United Bank of India. He is at present the ED of the same bank.

Their appointments come more than two months after they were recommended by the Banks Board Bureau, an advisory body formed by the government for top level appointments in the banks.

The BBB had recommended 14 bankers, including six deputy managing directors of SBI for appointment. Of the six, all except C V Nageswar have been appointed as MD and CEO of different state-owned banks, according to a statement issued by it on June 30.