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List of Previous Governors

Dr. Urjit R. Patel

Dr. Urjit R. Patel assumed charge as the twenty-fourth Governor of the Reserve Bank of India effective September 4, 2016 after serving as Deputy Governor since January 2013. He was re-appointed as Deputy Governor on January 11, 2016 after completion of his first three-year term of office. Among his assignments as Deputy Governor, Dr. Patel chaired the Expert Committee to Revise and Strengthen the Monetary Policy Framework. Representing India, he actively participated in steering the signing into force of the inter-governmental treaty and the Inter-Central Bank Agreement (ICBA) among the BRICS nations, which led to the establishment of the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), a swap line framework among the central banks of these countries.

Dr. Patel has also served at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He was on deputation from the IMF to the Reserve Bank during 1996-1997, and in that capacity he provided advice on development of the debt market, banking sector reforms, pension fund reforms, and evolution of the foreign exchange market. He was a Consultant to the Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs), Government of India, from 1998 to 2001. He has also had other assignments in the public and private sectors.

Dr. Patel has worked closely with several central and state government high level committees, including the Task Force on Direct Taxes (Kelkar Committee), the High Level Expert Group for Reviewing the Civil & Defence Services Pension System, the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Infrastructure, the Group of Ministers on Telecom Matters, the Committee on Civil Aviation Reforms and the Ministry of Power’s Expert Group on State Electricity Boards.

Dr. Patel has several publications in the areas of Indian macroeconomics, monetary policy, public finance, the Indian financial sector, international trade, and regulatory economics.

Dr. Patel has a Ph.D in economics from Yale University, an M. Phil from University of Oxford and a B. Sc. from the University of London.

Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan

Dr. Raghuram Rajan assumed charge as the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India on September 4, 2013. Prior to this, he was the Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, Government of India and the Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago's Booth School. Between 2003 and 2006, Dr. Rajan was the Chief Economist and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund.

Dr. Rajan's research interests are in banking, corporate finance, and economic development, especially the role finance plays in it. He has co-authored Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists with Luigi Zingales in 2003. He then wrote Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy, for which he was awarded the Financial Times-Goldman Sachs prize for best business book in 2010.

Dr. Rajan is a member of the Group of Thirty. He was the President of the American Finance Association in 2011 and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In January 2003, the American Finance Association awarded Dr. Rajan the inaugural Fischer Black Prize for the best finance researcher under the age of 40. The other awards he has received include the global Indian of the year award from NASSCOM in 2011, the Infosys prize for the Economic Sciences in 2012, and the Center for Financial Studies-Deutsche Bank Prize for financial economics in 2013.

Born on February 3, 1963, Dr. Rajan is married to Radhika and has two children.

Dr. D. Subbarao

Dr. D. Subbarao took over on September 5, 2008 as the 22nd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Dr. Subbarao has been appointed for a three-year term. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Subbarao was the Finance Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

Dr. Subbarao has earlier been Secretary to the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (2005-2007), lead economist in the World Bank (1999-2004), Finance Secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh (1993-98) and Joint Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India (1988-1993).

Dr. Subbarao has wide experience in public finance. In the World Bank, he worked on issues of public finance in countries of Africa and East Asia. He managed a flagship study on decentralisation across major countries of East Asia including China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines and Cambodia. Dr. Subbarao was also involved in initiation of fiscal reforms at the state level. Dr. Subbarao has written extensively on issues in public finance, decentralisation and political economy of reforms.

Born on August 11, 1949, Dr. Subbarao holds a B.Sc (Hons) in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and M.Sc in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Dr. Subbarao also holds an MS degree in Economics from Ohio State University. He was a Humphrey fellow at MIT during 1982-83. He has a Ph.D. in Economics with thesis on fiscal reforms at the sub-national level. Dr. Subbarao was a topper in the All India Civil Service examination for entry into Indian Administrative Services and Indian Foreign Services in 1972. He was one of the first IITians to join the civil service.

Dr. Y.V. Reddy

Dr. Yaga Venugopal Reddy the twenty-first Governor, is a member of the Indian Administrative Service. He has spent most of his career in the areas of finance and planning. He served as Secretary (Banking) in Ministry of Finance, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Joint Secretary in Ministry of Finance in Government of India, Principal Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh and had a a six year tenure as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Prior to his appointment as the Governor, Dr. Reddy was India's Executive Director on the Board of the International Monetary Fund.

Dr. Reddy has made significant policy contributions in the areas of financial sector reforms; trade finance; monitoring of balance of payments and exchange rate; external commercial borrowings; centre-state financial relations; regional planning; and public enterprise reform and has been closely associated with institution building. He has several publications to his credit mainly in areas relating to finance, planning and public enterprises.

Dr. Bimal Jalan

Dr.Bimal Jalan was the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from November 22, 1997 to Septemeber 6, 2003. Initially appointed as Governor, for a term of three years, Dr. Jalan was re-appointed as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, first for a period of two years commencing November 22, 2000 to November 21, 2002 and again for a further period of two years commencing November 22, 2002 and ending November 21, 2004. He was nominated as Rajya Sabha member on August 27, 2003 and relinquished office as Governor of the Reserve Bank of India on September 6, 2003.

An economist by profession. Dr. Jalan has held several administrative and advisory positions in the Government of India. He was the Chief Economic Adviser to the Union Government in the 1980s, Banking Secretary between 1985 and 1989 and Finance Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. As Finance Secretary, he was also on the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India. He has also been the Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister between January 1991 and September 1992. Dr. Jalan has served as the Executive Director representing India on the Boards of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. At the time of his appointment as the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Dr. Jalan was the Member-Secretary, Planning Commission in New Delhi.

Born in 1941, Dr. Jalan is educated in the Presidency College, Calcutta, Cambridge and Oxford Universities. Dr. Jalan has authored India's Economic Crisis: The Way Ahead(Oxford University Press, 1991) and edited The Indian Economy: Problems and Prospects(Penguin, 1993). His latest book India's Economic Policy: Preparing for the Twenty-first Century(Viking, 1996) examines some of the critical policy choices for India at the present juncture.

Dr. C. Rangarajan

Tenure :

Dr. C Rangarajan was a professional economist. Prior to his appointment as the Governor, he held charge as Deputy Governor for over a decade. He was also a member of the Planning Commission and a member of the Tenth Finance Commission.

His tenure as Governor saw unprecedented central bank activism to put in place a comprehensive set of measures to strengthen and improve the competitive efficiency of the financial sector. New institutions and instruments were introduced and changes in exchange rate management culminated in the establishment of a unified exchange rate. In the field of monetary policy, his tenure saw the historic memorandum signed between the Bank and the Government whereby a cap was put on the automatic finance by the Bank to the Government in the form of ad hoc treasury bills.

Shri S. Venkitaramanan

Tenure :
  • Dec 22, 1990 - Dec 21, 1992

S Venkitaramanan, a member of the Indian Administrative Service, had served as Finance Secretary and adviser to the Government of Karnataka prior to his appointment as Governor.

The country faced difficulties related to the external sector during his tenure. His adroit management saw the country tide over the balance of payments crisis. His term also saw India adopt the IMF's stabilisation programme where the Rupee underwent a devaluation and the launch of the programme of economic reforms.

Shri R.N. Malhotra

Tenure :
  • Feb 4, 1985 - Dec 22, 1990

R.N. Malhotra, a member of the Indian Administrative Service, served as Secretary, Finance and Executive Director of the IMF. prior to his appointment as Governor.

During his tenure efforts were made to develop the money markets and new instruments were introduced. The Discount and Finance House of India, the National Housing Bank were set up and the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research inaugurated. In the field of rural finance, the Service Area Approach was adopted as an approach catalyse the flow of credit through commercial banks.

Shri A. Ghosh

Tenure :
  • Jan 15, 1985 - Feb 4, 1985

A Ghosh was the Deputy Governor of the Bank since 1982 when he was appointed Governor for a brief period of 15 days till R N Malhotra could take over. He was earlier the chairman of Allahabad Bank prior to his appointment as the Deputy Governor of the Bank. He was also a Director of the Industrial Development Bank of India and the governing body of the National Institute of Bank Management.

Dr. Manmohan Singh

Tenure :
  • Sep 16, 1982 - Jan 14, 1985

Dr Manmohan Singh, academic and administrator, had served as Secretary Finance as well as Member Secretary of the Planning Commission prior to his appointment as Governor,

During his tenure comprehensive legal reforms were carried out related to the banking sector and a new chapter introduced in the Reserve Bank of India Act and the Urban Banks Department was set up.

After his tenure in the Bank, he served in various capacities before being appointed Finance Minister. His tenure as Finance Minister was notable for the fact that he heralded in liberalisation and comprehensive reforms in India.

RBI Governor Notes

* After the death of Sir James Taylor, Shri C. D. Deshmukh, under the Ordinance issued by the Government of India, Legislative Department, New Delhi, exercised the Governor’s powers and functions from February 22, 1943 to August 10, 1943.

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