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A K Purwar appointed new SBI chairman

The government has appointed A K Purwar as chairman of the country's largest commercial bank, the state-owned State Bank of India, an official at the bank told Reuters on Wednesday.

Purwar, who was the chairman of a fully owned subsidiary of SBI, the State Bank of Patiala, takes over from Janki Ballabh, who retired in the last week of October.

The official said Purwar will remain chairman until May 31, 2006, which will be the longest term for any head. The terms of most chiefs since the mid-90s have ranged from two months to two-and-a-half years.

SBI, which has assets of more than Rs 3 trillion as on March 31, 2002, accounts for nearly a quarter of the country's deposits and loans.

The government holds a little more than 59 per cent in the bank. Foreign funds, whose combined holding in SBI is limited to 20 per cent, owned 19.4 per cent at the end of June.

The bank has made an aggressive foray in recent years into the retail and housing finance sectors amid sluggish demand for industrial loans.

SBI's shares ended down 0.82 per cent at Rs 234.90, while the main Bombay index finished nearly unchanged.

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