(Clockwise from bottom left) Deepak Parekh, P. Chidambaram & Rakesh Mohan: When will they IDFC a chief?

It's been seven months since managing director Naseer Munjee and his senior team quit Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (IDFC) in a huff, apparently opposing the government's idea to merge the company with the State Bank of India (SBI). But the search for a new MD is still on. The other six officials promptly walked back after they were reassured that there would be no merger. In fact one of them, A.K.T. Chari, who was the chief operating officer before he quit, came back to assume charge as the acting-MD till chairman Deepak Parekh finds a replacement for Munjee.

When P. Chidambaram, who conceived IDFC in 1997, came back as finance minister this year, one thought IDFC would get a shot in its arm. Five months down and the search for a new chief still continues. Chidambaram and company have been talking about infrastructure development at every chance they get, and have even quoted a figure of $150 billion for revamping infrastructure. However, IDFC has seldom figured in their scheme of things. Also, Rakesh Mohan, who chaired the expert group on commercialisation of infrastructure projects that suggested the need for IDFC, and who later became the executive vice-chairman of IDFC, is now financial adviser to the finance minister.

So what are Chidambaram's plans? There are some theories doing the rounds. Here is one. The quantum of infrastructure development the government is talking about will require a dedicated development finance institution (DFI) that will be able to lend huge amounts to jumpstart the sector. With a total of just Rs 6,140 crore disbursed during six years of its existence, IDFC's track record hasn't been too impressive. In this case, IDBI, under the chairmanship of turn-around man M. Damodaran, emerges as a clear contender for getting the mandate to revamp the infrastructure sector. And now with talks of IFCI being merged with IDBI, the latter will have an asset base of Rs 66,921 crore, second only to ICICI Bank. Historically, IDBI is responsible for kick-starting Indian industry. Will IDBI get the mandate of doing an encore with the infrastructure sector?

The other theory, albeit a little far-fetched, is that the government plans to launch an altogether new DFI to cater to the needs of the infrastructure sector.

Meanwhile, with all the uncertainty around the future of the company, resumes of IDFC employees are floating around in the job market. They need not worry though. With so many commercial banks wanting to get into infrastructure sector lending, they shouldn't have a problem being placed. Munjee himself has already landed a consulting assignment with KPMG. But IDFC, with a lacklustre track record, is likely to stay on tenterhooks for some more time.