The RBI Governor is the Chief Executive Officer of the Central Bank of India and the Ex-officio Chairman of its Central Board of Directors. The RBI Governor is appointed by the government of India and is not generally elected. The signature of the RBI Governor is present on the Indian currency notes. The list of RBI governors is an important segment to learn for the candidates preparing for competitive exams.
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Sanjay Malhotra, a seasoned bureaucrat and Revenue Secretary, has been appointed as the 26th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). A 1990-batch IAS officer from the Rajasthan cadre, he succeeds Shaktikanta Das, whose tenure ends on 10th December 2024. Malhotra brings over three decades of diverse experience spanning finance, taxation, power, IT, and mining.
List of RBI Governor of India
In the list of RBI Governor of India, the first governor of India is Sir Osborne Smith. He served as the Governor from 1st April 1935 to 30th June 1937. The list of RBI governors from 1935 to 2024 is given below.
RBI Governor | Duration from 1935-2021 | |
From | To | |
Sir Osborne Smith | April 1, 1935 | June 30, 1937 |
Sir James Braid Taylor | July 1, 1937 | February 17, 1943 |
Sir C.D. Deshmukh | August 11, 1943 | June 30, 1949 |
Sir Bengal Rama Rau | July 1, 1949 | January 14, 1957 |
K.G. Ambegaonkar | January 14, 1957 | February 28, 1957 |
H.V.R. Lyengar | March 1, 1957 | February 28, 1962 |
P.C. Bhattacharya | March 1, 1962 | June 30, 1967 |
L.K. Jha | July 1, 1967 | May 3, 1970 |
B.N. Adarkar | May 4, 1970 | June 15, 1970 |
S. Jagannathan | June 16, 1970 | May 19, 1975 |
N.C. Sen Gupta | May 19, 1975 | August 19, 1975 |
K.R. Puri | August 20, 1975 | May 2, 1977 |
M. Narasimham | May 3, 1977 | November 30, 1977 |
I.G. Patel | December 1, 1977 | September 15, 1982 |
Manmohan Singh | September 16, 1982 | January 14, 1985 |
Amitav Gosh | January 15, 1985 | September 4, 1985 |
R. N. Malhotra | February 4, 1985 | December 22, 1990 |
S. Vpnldraramanan | December 22, 1990 | December 21, 1992 |
C. Rangaerajan | December 22, 1992 | November 21, 1997 |
Bimal Jalan | November 22, 1997 | September 6, 2003 |
Y.V. Reddy | September 6, 2003 – | September 5, 2008 |
D. Subbarao | September 5, 2008 – | September 4, 2013 |
Raghuram G. Raj an | September 4, 2013 – | September 4, 2016 |
Urjit Ravindra Patel | September 4, 2016 – | December 10, 2018 |
Shaktikanta Das | December 12, 2018 | December 10, 2024 |
Sanjay Malhotra | December 11, 2024 | Till Date |
RBI Governors of India: Roles & Functions
- The RBI Governor holds the highest position in the financial institutions, the RBI Governor is responsible for the maintenance of the monetary stability in an economy.
- RBI Governor of India heads responsible for issuing licenses to open new foreign and private banks.
- The financial system of the nation is regulated by the RBI Governor who also has the responsibility to set parameters within which the whole financial system functions.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sets board guidelines for banking activities under which the nation’s banking and financial system operates.
- The governor manages India’s foreign exchange reserves and oversees the preservation of the rupee’s external value.
- RBI also carries out tasks to assist national goals for financing agriculture and rural areas.