NSE India has appointed Vikram Limaye as its Managing Director and CEO ahead of its upcoming IPO, replacing the former head Chitra Ramakrishnan, who had quit last month citing personal reasons. Vikram Limaye at present is the Managing Director and CEO of IDFC Ltd, the asset financing and banking company.

Limaye was selected by a four-member search and selection panel set up to look for a new MD and CEO to run India’s largest stock exchange. The panel members were M&M group Chairman Anand Mahindra, former RBI Deputy Governor Usha Thorat and NSE independent directors TV Mohandas Pai and Dinesh Kanabar.

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court appointed Limaye to a new four-member panel to run the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the apex body managing the sport in the country.

NSE India, the owner of the National Stock Exchange, has filed for an IPO (initial public offer), close on the heels of its older rival BSE Ltd’s listing.Earlier today, CNBC TV18 reported that NSE’s search and selection committee wanted to appoint someone with a very strong understanding of the firm’s business, so that the new head could hit the ground running ahead of the IPO. CNBC TV18 said the committee zeroed in on Limaye as he understands NSE’s business as well knows the key people, since IDFC was one of the early investors in NSE.

NSE is due to soon begin roadshows for its upcoming IPO.Today, BSE became the first stock exchange in India to be listed, with a bumper opening at 35% premium to the offer price. BSE has raised Rs 1,243 crore for its shareholders through the listing. Interestingly, BSE is listed on the rival exchange NSE, due to SEBI’s regulations prohibiting exchanges from self-listing their stocks.

Vikram Limaye’s appointment will now have to be cleared by the regulator SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India). Vikram Limaye is a Chartered Accountant and completed MBA in Finance and Multinational Management from the Wharton School.

He started his professional career with Arthur Andersen in Mumbai in 1987, and after his MBA, worked on Wall Street in USA for 8 years with Credit Suisse First Boston in a variety of roles in investment banking, capital markets, structured finance and credit portfolio management.