With the appointment of K.V. Kamath as the Chief of the newly-formed $100 billion New Development Bank, India’s second largest IT company Infosys may have to find a new Chairman.
In his new role as the head of BRICS bank, Mr. Kamath will have largely to operate from Shanghai in China.
Presently, Mr. Kamath is the non-executive Chairman of Infosys and also the non-executive Chairman of ICICI Bank. Mr.Kamath was appointed as an additional director to the Infosys board from May 2, 2009.
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An email sent to the company spokesperson went unanswered.
Commenting on the appointment of Mr. Kamath as the head of the New Development Bank, Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys, said, “I have known Mr. K.V. Kamath for over 45 years now. I have worked with him on the boards of both Infosys and ICICI. He was a very successful CEO of ICICI. He is a very competent, courageous, kind and fair leader. I am sure he will raise the prestige of India and the BRICS bank.”
Mr. Kamath, who retired as the Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Bank, did not respond to a query via email on whether he will step down from Infosys board.
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Mr. Kamath became the non-executive Chairman of Infosys in August 2011 when Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy stepped down from the board of the company. Due to Mr. Murthy’s return to the Infosys board in 2013, Mr. Kamath stepped down from his position as Chairman of the board, and took up the position of Lead Independent Director effective June 1, 2013.
Followed by Murthy’s decision to step down from the board in October 2014, Mr. Kamath was re-elected as the Chairman of the board effective October 11, 2014. According to media reports, Infosys is likely to appoint an interim Chairman, and board members R. Seshasayee, who is the present Vice-Chairman, and Ravi Venkatesan, former Chairman of Microsoft India, are considered.