PNB's K C Chakrabarty named as RBI deputy governor

Kamalesh Chandra Chakrabarty, chairman and managing director of Punjab National Bank, has been selected as deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India. The prime minister's office has cleared his name, and a formal announcement is expected later this week.

Chakrabarty will replace V Leeladhar, who relinquished the post of RBI deputy governor in December.

Chakrabarty became the chairman of PNB in June 2007, after heading the Chennai-based Indian Bank. On Monday, Indian Banks' Association (IBA) had named him as its chairman for the financial year 2009-10. He is also director of United India Insurance Co.

Chakrabarty, who turns 57 on 27 June, has a doctorate in statistics from the Benaras Hindu University and was a gold medallist in MSc (statistics). In 1978, he started his career as a planning officer at Bank of Baroda. He went on to head the bank's corporate planning and economic research departments, besides being in-charge of resource management at the bank's corporate office.

In 2004, Chakrabarty moved to Punjab National Bank as executive director before taking over as the chairman and managing director of Indian Bank in June 2005. He was instrumental is carrying forward the restructuring and later listing of the Chennai-based public sector bank on bourses.

Traditionally, RBI has four deputy governors, with a former public sector bank chairman usually being in charge of banking supervision and development. However, it is unclear if Chakrabarty will be assigned to this department or be given some other responsibility. He is expected to get a three-year term.

The government will soon have to begin searching for another deputy governor, with Rakesh Mohan due to leave the central bank later this month to take up an assignment at Stanford University.