According to sources, since Prasad was in the reserve list, the interview was held for the appointment of the managing director.
Earlier this year, he has been recommended to head UCO Bank, subject to various approvals including vigilance.
The final opinion in this regard will be taken by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by the Prime Minister, sources said.
Head of state-owned banks and financial institutions BBB had conducted interviews for the post of MD of Indian Bank in May. After the interview, Shanti Lal Jain was recommended for the post, while Prasad was a candidate in the reserve list.
Last month, the Reserve Bank removed UCO Bank from its prompt corrective action (PCA) framework following a written commitment to improve various parameters and adhere to the state-owned lender’s minimum capital norms.
The lender also apprised the RBI of structural and systemic reforms that would help the bank meet its financial commitments. The public sector bank fell under PCA in May 2017.
PCA begins when banks violate certain regulatory requirements such as return on asset, minimum capital and quantum of non-performing assets.
The restrictions in many ways incapacitate banks to lend freely and force them to operate under a restrictive environment which becomes an impediment to growth.
UCO Bank had posted a more than four-fold increase in its net profit at Rs 101.81 crore for the first quarter of the financial year ended June 30, as bad loans declined significantly.
The lender reduced its gross non-performing assets (NPAs or bad loans) to 9.37 per cent of gross advances as of June 30, 2021, as against 14.38 per cent in June-end 2020.
Net NPAs declined by 4.95 per cent (Rs 5,138.18 crore) to 3.85 per cent (Rs 4,387.25 crore).