Since 1935, RBI has had 25 governors over the years. From Osborn Smith to Shaktikanta Das, the position of the governor has been held by some of the most intellectual minds of the nation. The succession of governors began with Sir Osborn Smith.

Dr. Manmohan Singh

Tenure: 1982-1985

Dr. Manmohan Singh was the fifteenth Governor of the RBI. His tenure spanned from 1982 to 1985. Singh presided over a rapidly expanding economy. In 2005, Singh entered into negotiations with U.S. President George W. Bush for a nuclear pact. The deal stated that India should be allowed to purchase nuclear fuel on the world market. Singh was criticized for fostering a close relationship with the US. Progress on the deal prompted the parliamentary majority to denounce Singh’s government and push for a confidence vote in July 2008. Singh’s government narrowly survived the vote.

A.Ghosh

Tenure: 15/01/1985-04/02/1985

A. Ghosh, the Deputy Governor of the RBI since 1982 was appointed as the governor for a period of 15 days till R.N. Malhotra could take the position.

R.N. Malhotra

Tenure: 1985-1990

R.N. Malhotra served as sectary, finance and executive director of the IMF before taking the position of RBI governor. His tenure spanned from 1985 to 1990. During his time in the office, The National Housing Bank and the Discount and Finance House of India were set up. His tenure also saw the inauguration of the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research.

S. Venkitaramanan

Tenure: 1990-1992

S. Venkitaramanan was the eighteenth Governor of the RBI. His tenure lasted from 1990 to 1992. During his tenure, the country faced difficulties related to the external sector. His term also saw the devaluation of the rupee.

Dr. C. Rangarajan

Tenure: 1992-1997

The nineteenth governor of the RBI was Dr. C. Rangarajan. He served as the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India before serving as the governor from 1992 to 1997. He put in place a comprehensive set of measures to strengthen and improve the competitive efficiency of the financial sector.

Dr. Bimal Jalan

Tenure: 1997-2003

The 20th Governor of the RBI, Dr. Bimal Jalan, was appointed for two terms. First was for a period of two years, from 2000 to 2002 and again from 2002 to 2004. His tenure saw the introduction of the Indian rupee note of 1000 denomination. This period saw a number of measures to strengthen the banking sector, introduce new instruments, establish new institutions, strengthen the balance of payment position and the foreign exchange position.

Dr. Y.V. Reddy

Tenure- 2003-2008

Dr. Yaga Venugopal Reddy was the 21st Governor of the RBI. Dr. Reddy has made a number of contributions to the areas of trade finance, monitoring of balance of payments, exchange rate stability and external borrowings. Y.V. Reddy wanted to resign as RBI governor in 2004, due to unevenness of opinions between him and the Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram. Reddy is known for saving the Indian Banking system from the sub-prime crisis of 2008. The term ‘Financial Inclusion’ was used for the first time by him. He implemented stringent laws over the banking sector and also framed rules regarding the use of bank loans for the purchase of raw land.

Dr. Subbarao

Tenure- 2008-2013

The 22nd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India was Dr. Subbarao. His tenure started on September 5 in 2008, barely 10 days before the collapse of the Wall Street firm Lehman Brothers. This started a credit crisis which sent a whirlwind across the global economy. A sharp fall in rupee added to the problems of the RBI governor. Subbarao decided to raise lending rates to bring down the prices.

Dr. Subbarao was known to have a mind of his own. He vetoed the opinions of his fellow members in the Technical Advisory Group on monetary policy. During his tenure, the banking industry in India was rocked by the Cobrapost expose of money laundering. This pointed to the loopholes in the supervisory role of RBI. Dr. Subbarao took the initiative to educate the people about the Central bank. This was done by lucidly presenting macroeconomic concepts in the RBI publications and interaction with the masses through financial literacy and village outreach programmes. Subbarao is credited for safely steering the Indian economy through the global financial crisis. However, it was during Subbarao’s tenure that the value if Indian Rupee hit a new low of Rs.69 to the dollar.

Dr. Raghuram Rajan

Tenure: 2013-2016

RBI has been blessed with some of the most intellectual minds of the country, who have acted as the governors and one prime example is Dr. Raghuram Rajan. Raghuram Rajan famously predicted the 2008 global economic crisis. When he took over as RBI governor in 2013, he was burdened with a lot of expectations of the entire nation. He was also given the title of James Bond of Economics. It came as a shock when the Modi government decided to not give Rajan a full five-year term. Before Rajan, S. Venkitaramanan was the only RBI governor to not get a five-year term.

When Raghuram Rajan took over after Dr. Subbarao, the Indian economy was labeled as one of the Fragile Five. The Fragile Five represent the economies that are dependent on unreliable foreign investments to finance their growth. The rupee had weakened drastically against the dollar. During the last three years of his tenure, many reform moves in monetary and banking policy were initiated. A monetary policy committee for overseeing interest related decision was set up and a financial inclusion scheme, Jan Dhan, was also launched.

Dr. Urjit R. Patel

Tenure: 2016-2018

Urjit Patel took over as the new RBI Governor after the resignation of Raghunath Rajan on September 4, 2016. He resigned 9 months before the end of his term.

Within two months of assuming charge, Urjit Patel had to deal with the contretemps of demonetization. He got a lot of condemnation for it. He had to preside over one of the most disruptive and controversial economic moves by a government.

As the government and the RBI did not see eye to eye on a number of issues related to the control of government on RBI, It was expected that there would be a face-off between the government and the RBI in the November 19 board meeting. But the meeting transpired with no signs of any dissension. The resignation makes it evident that there was more than meets the eye. The government was pressurizing the RBI to help fund the fiscal deficit but the RBI did not concede with long-term financial stability in mind. That is when the government used the weapon of section 7. This section empowers the government to give directions to the central bank. This left Urjit Patel with two options, either to succumb to the demands of the government or resign. Perhaps he did try to remain resolute and find a solution but resigned when he failed.

Shri Shaktikanta Das

A day after the resignation of Urjit Patel, Shaktikanta Das was appointed as the governor of the RBI. Is he capable of holding this taxing position? Only time will tell.

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