Kumar Mangalam Birla resigns from RBI board

Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla has resigned from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) board to avoid any conflict of interest as one of his group firm is in the race for a new banking licence, a company spokesperson said Tuesday.

IANS had first reported the issue of possible conflict of interest earlier this month after group firm Adiya Birla Nuvo applied for a new banking licence.

Birla was a member of the RBI's central board, the apex policy making body of the country's central bank.

Talking to IANS on phone, a Aditya Birla Group spokesperson confirmed Birla's resignation from the RBI board.

Birla's name does not figure in the updated list of directors of the RBI board as posted on the central bank's website.

The prominent private sector representatives on the board include Azim Premji, Y.C. Deveshwar and G.M. Rao. None of their group firms are seeking a banking licence.

Twenty-six companies are in the fray for new banking linceces in the private sector, including some top corporate houses like Tata Sons, L&T, Reliance Group, Bajaj, Shriram and Religare, besides Birla.