PM opens race for SBI top job to four managing directors

NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has opened the race for State Bank of India chairman's job to all four managing directors by relaxing the rules.

Given the earlier requirement of at least two years of remaining service to be considered for chairman's post, only Arundhati Bhattacharya was eligible for the top job at the country's largest bank. To widen the field, the finance ministry sought an exemption for A Krishna Kumar, another SBI MD. The move comes at a time when the government has decided to give a fixed three-year term to the next SBI chairman, who will take over from Pratip Chaudhuri, who retires in a little over a month.

In response to the finance ministry's demand for considering Krishna Kumar too, sources familiar with the development said that the PM's office has said that there is no reason why the zone of consideration should be limited to two MDs.