| Post: | Governor |
| Body: | the Reserve Bank of India |
| Insignia: | Seal of the Reserve Bank of India.svg |
| Insigniacaption: | Seal of the Reserve Bank of India |
| Incumbent: | Shaktikanta Das |
| Incumbentsince: | 12 December 2018 |
| Termlength: | 3 years (extendable) |
| Appointer: | Government of India |
| Salary: | ₹ 2,50,000 |
| Inaugural: | Sir Osborne Smith |
| Constituting Instrument: | Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 |
| Deputy: | Deputy Governor |
| Native Name: | Bhāratīya Rija़rva Baiṁka kē Gavarnara |
The governor of the Reserve Bank of India (ISO: Bhāratīya Rija़rva Baiṁka kē Gavarnara) is the chief executive officer of India's central bank and the ex-officio chair of its Central Board of Directors. Initially it was below the cabinet secretary rank but currently it an equivalent rank to cabinet secretary. Indian Rupee currency notes, issued by the Reserve Bank of India, bear the governor's signature. Since its establishment in 1935 by the government of India, the RBI has been headed by twenty-fivegovernors. The governor of the Reserve Bank of India is a member of the Strategic Policy Group headed by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. It is a crucial wing of the National Security Council.
The term of office typically runs for three years and can, in some cases, be extended for another two years.
The inaugural officeholder was the British banker Sir Osborne Smith, while Sir C. D. Deshmukh was the first native Indian governor. Holding office for over seven years, Sir Benegal Rama Rau was the longest-serving governor, while Amitav Ghosh's 20-day term is the shortest. The bank's fifteenthgovernor, Dr Manmohan Singh, later became India's thirteenth prime minister. Shaktikanta Das is the twenty-fifth governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 12 December 2018.
| Governor | data-sort-type="date" scope="col" class="unsortable" width=135px | Term | Length of tenure | Notes[1] | References | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | Sir | 1 April 1935 — 30 June 1937 | Smith was a British banker who served as the managing governor of the Imperial Bank of India prior to becoming the governor. He resigned the governorship before the completion of the term. | [2] | ||
| 2 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | Sir | 1 July 1937 — 17 February 1943 | Taylor was an ICS officer who served as the controller of the currency and the deputy governor of RBI before becoming the governor. His stewardship saw the Bank through the war years and decisive break away from a silver currency to fiat money. He died while in office. | [3] | ||
| 3 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | Sir | 11 August 1943 — 30 June 1949 | Deshmukh was an ICS officer who served as the deputy governor of RBI prior to becoming the governor. He was the first Indian to serve as the governor. His governorship oversaw the partition of India as the subsequent division of assets and liabilities between India and Pakistan. | |||
| 4 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | Sir | 1 July 1949 — 14 January 1957 | Rau was an ICS officer who served as the Indian ambassador to the United States prior to becoming the governor. He resigned the governorship before the completion of his second extended term. | |||
| 5 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 14 January 1957 — 28 February 1957 | Ambegaokar was an ICS officer who served as the Finance Secretary prior to becoming the deputy governor of RBI. He was appointed as the interim governor upon the resignation of Benegal Rama Rau. | ||||
| 6 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 1 March 1957 — 28 February 1962 | Iyengar was an ICS officer who served as the chairman of the State Bank of India prior to becoming the governor. Indian coinage was shifted from earlier systems to decimal coinage during his governorship. | ||||
| 7 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 1 March 1962 — 30 June 1967 | Bhattacharya was an IA&AS officer who served as the chairman of the State Bank of India prior to becoming the governor. | ||||
| 8 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 1 July 1967 — 3 May 1970 | Jha was an ICS officer who served as the secretary to the prime minister prior to becoming the governor. He left the office upon his appointment as the Indian ambassador to the United States. | ||||
| 9 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 4 May 1970 — 15 June 1970 | Adarkar was an economist who served as the economic advisor to the government prior to becoming the deputy governor of RBI. He was appointed as the interim governor. | ||||
| 10 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 16 June 1970 — 19 May 1975 | Jagannathan was an ICS officer who served as India's executive director of the World Bank prior to becoming the governor. He resigned from the office to become India's executive director of the IMF. | ||||
| 11 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 19 May 1975 — 19 August 1975 | Gupta served as the secretary to the Department of Banking, Ministry of Finance prior to becoming the interim governor. | ||||
| 12 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 20 August 1975 — 2 May 1977 | Puri served as the chairman of the Life Insurance Corporation prior to becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw the formation of various regional rural banks. | ||||
| 13 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 3 May 1977 — 30 November 1977 | Narasimham was a RBI research officer who served as an additional Secretary to the Department of Economic Affairs prior to becoming the governor. | ||||
| 14 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 1 December 1977 — 15 September 1982 | Patel was an economist who served as a secretary in the Ministry of Finance prior to becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw the demonetization of ₹5,000 and ₹10,000 value currency.[4] | ||||
| 15 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 16 September 1982 — 14 January 1985 | Singh is an economist who served as the Finance Secretary prior to becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw various legal reforms related to banking. He went on to become the Prime Minister of India. | ||||
| 16 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 15 January 1985 — 4 February 1985 | Ghosh was the deputy governor of RBI who was appointed as the interim governor until R. N. Malhotra assumed the office. | ||||
| 17 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 4 February 1985 — 22 December 1990 | Malhotra was an IAS officer who served as executive director of the IMF prior to becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw the inauguration of Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research. | ||||
| 18 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 22 December 1990 — 21 December 1992 | Venkitaramanan was an IAS officer who served as the Finance Secretary prior to becoming the governor. India adopted IMF's stabilization program during his governorship. | ||||
| 19 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 22 December 1992 — 21 November 1997 | Rangarajan is an economist who served as the deputy governor of RBI prior to becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw the establishment of unified exchange rate. | ||||
| 20 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 22 November 1997 — 6 September 2003 | Jalan is an economist who served at various positions including Chief Economic Advisor to the government and later as the Finance Secretary, prior to becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw less inflation and interest rates. | ||||
| 21 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 6 September 2003 — 5 September 2008 | Reddy is an IAS officer who served as the deputy governor of RBI prior to becoming the governor. During his governorship, he contributed in the financial sector reforms and external commercial borrowings. | ||||
| 22 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 5 September 2008 — 4 September 2013 | Subbarao is an IAS officer who served as the Finance Secretary prior to becoming the governor. He wrote on various issues including decentralization and public finance. | ||||
| 23 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 4 September 2013 — 4 September 2016 | Rajan is an economist who served as the Chief Economic Advisor to the government and the Chief Economist of IMF prior to becoming the governor. | ||||
| 24 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 4 September 2016 — 10 December 2018 | Patel is an economist who worked with the IMF and the central government. He served as the deputy governor of RBI prior to becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw the demonetization of ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes. He later resigned citing personal reasons. | [5] [6] | |||
| 25 | scope=row style="text-align:center"; | 12 December 2018 — Incumbent | Das was an IAS officer who served as the Revenue Secretary and later Economic Affairs Secretary. He served as a Member of the 15th Finance Commission prior to becoming the governor. | [7] [8] [9] [10] |