Satyam scam-hit PwC replaces its India chief

Staggered by the scam at Satyam Computer Services that broke last year, auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has sacked the head of its India operations, Ramesh Rajan, and replaced him with Gautam Banerjee.

Banerjee, currently based in Singapore, takes over as chairman of PwC's Indian arm Price Waterhouse with immediate effect, the international auditing firm announced on Monday.

Rajan, who was at the helm of affairs when the Satyam scam broke early this year, had about one-and-a-half years remaining of his four-year tenure as the chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers' India network of entities (PwC India).

The company said Rajan had decided to step down after a "challenging year", as the company continues "to address the various enquiries concerning Satyam". Rajan himself said he wanted time to "look at other things" outside the firm and "allow someone else to take charge of the operations".

PwC's Indian operations have been under the scanner ever since Satyam founder Ramalinga Raju confessed to cooking the company's books in January last year. Two senior partners in the firm, S Gopalakrishnan and Srinivas Talluri, who were statutory auditors for Satyam, are cooling their heels in jail for their alleged involvement in the scam.

Rajan, who has been at the helm of PwC India since 2007, was also summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation for questioning.