Indian Bank: Centre nominates Kata, replacing Samir Kumar

The Centre has nominated Manasa Gangotri Kata as a director on Indian Bank’s board in place of Samir Kumar, according to the Department of Financial Services’ notification dated 23 October 2026. The nomination takes effect immediately and continues until further orders.

The Ministry of Finance notification identifies Kata as a director in the Department of Financial Services. It invokes Section 9(3)(b) of the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970, as the authority for the Central Government’s decision.

The change concerns the government nominee’s seat, rather than the bank’s managing director and chief executive position. Indian Bank’s board and committee membership statement dated 13 August 2026 identified Kumar as the Government of India nominee director and Binod Kumar as managing director and chief executive, and chairman of the board.

The October notification does not give a reason for replacing Samir Kumar. It nominates Kata to the board without announcing changes to the bank’s executive leadership or assigning her any board committee positions.

What the nomination establishes

The Department of Financial Services has not specified a fixed end date for Kata’s board appointment. Its wording, “with immediate effect and until further orders”, makes the nomination effective under the notification rather than setting a future commencement date or a term expressed in years.

The legal framework distinguishes between categories of directors. The Central Government’s Nationalised Banks (Management and Miscellaneous Provisions) Scheme, 1970, provides for the government to constitute a nationalised bank’s board through a notification in the Official Gazette.

Clause 9(1) of the scheme states that directors other than those covered by clauses (a) and (i) of Section 9(3) hold office during the Central Government’s pleasure. In plain terms, that wording makes continuation in office subject to the government’s decision. The October notification places Kata’s nomination under clause (b).

The scheme also treats appointment as managing director separately. Clause 6 provides for the Central Government, after consultation with the Reserve Bank, to appoint a director from the category specified in Section 9(3)(a) as managing director and chief executive. Kata’s notification does not appoint her to that position.

These distinctions explain the scope of the decision: the Department of Financial Services has changed the person occupying the government-nominated board seat, not announced an appointment to run the bank as its chief executive.

Banking operations, tax and earlier board experience

The International Financial Services Centres Authority’s profile of Kata identifies her as a 2007-batch Indian Revenue Service officer in the Customs and Indirect Taxes stream. It records experience in Customs, goods and services tax, and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence.

According to the authority’s profile, Kata holds a B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering from IIT Bombay and a Master of Business Law from NLSIU, Bangalore. The profile describes her departmental responsibilities as Director, Banking Operations and International Cooperation, in the Department of Financial Services.

Her move to the department was documented separately by the Department of Personnel and Training. An office memorandum from November 2024 stated that the Department of Revenue had recommended her for central deputation, an assignment outside her parent department.

The memorandum selected her as a director in the Department of Financial Services under the Central Staffing Scheme. It specified five years from taking charge or until further orders, whichever came earlier. That departmental appointment is distinct from the Indian Bank board nomination and does not establish a five-year term on the bank’s board.

The International Financial Services Centres Authority also records that Kata previously served as a government nominee director at the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development, or NaBFID, and Agriculture Insurance Company of India Limited.

NaBFID’s stock-exchange communication dated 14 May 2026 documents the end of her nomination there. The institution said a Department of Financial Services notification dated 13 May 2026 nominated Shalini Pandit, joint secretary in the department, to its board in Kata’s place, with immediate effect and until further orders.

Committee responsibilities remain separate

Indian Bank’s August membership statement shows that Samir Kumar’s responsibilities extended beyond membership of the full board. It named him chairman of the Board Level Appellate Committee for Disciplinary Cases and the Board Committee for Performance Evaluation.

The same statement listed him on the Committee of Directors for Vigilance, the special committee monitoring and following up fraud cases, and the IT Strategy Committee. He was also a member of the HR Committee and the Committee for Monitoring of Recovery, according to Indian Bank.

Those entries describe the bank’s committee arrangements on 13 August 2026, before the October nomination. They establish the responsibilities attached to Kumar in that statement, but do not establish Kata’s committee assignments.

The Department of Financial Services’ 23 October notification addresses board membership alone. It does not say whether Kata will take over Kumar’s former committee memberships or chairmanships.