The governor of the Reserve Bank of India is the chief executive officer of India's central bank and the ex-officio chair of its Central Board of Directors. The Governor of RBI by convention to be considered as equivalent to Minister of State (MoS). Indian Rupee currency notes, issued by the Reserve Bank of India, bear the governor's signature. Since its establishment in 1935, the RBI has been headed by twenty-sixgovernors. The governor 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.[clarification needed]

The inaugural officeholder was the Australian banker Sir Osborne Smith, while Sir C. D. Deshmukh was the first native Indian governor. Sir Benegal Rama Rau was the longest-serving governor, Holding office for over seven years. while Amitav Ghosh's 20-day term is the shortest. The bank's fifteenthgovernor, Manmohan Singh, later became India's thirteenth prime minister. Sanjay Malhotra is the twenty-sixth governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 11 December 2024.

List of governors

Sir C. D. Deshmukh was the first Indian to serve as the governor.
Sir Benegal Rama Rau was the longest serving governor.
I. G. Patel, the fourteenth governor
Manmohan Singh, the fifteenth governor, later served as the thirteenth prime minister of India
Raghuram Rajan, the twenty-third governor
Shaktikanta Das, the twenty-fifth governor
Sanjay Malhotra, the twenty-sixth and the incumbent governor
#PortraitNameTermLength of tenureNotesRef
1Osborne Smith1 April 1935 — 30 June 19372 years, 90 daysSmith was an Australian banker who served as the managing governor of the Imperial Bank of India before becoming the governor. He resigned the governorship before the completion of the term.
2James Braid Taylor1 July 1937 — 17 February 19435 years, 231 daysTaylor was an ICS officer who served as the controller of the currency and the deputy governor of the RBI. He died while in office.
3C. D. Deshmukh11 August 1943 — 30 June 19495 years, 323 daysDeshmukh was an ICS officer who served as the deputy governor of the RBI. 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.
4Benegal Rama Rau1 July 1949 — 14 January 19577 years, 197 daysRau was an ICS officer who served as the ambassador to the United States. He resigned the governorship before the completion of his second extended term.
5K. G. Ambegaonkar14 January 1957 — 28 February 195745 daysAmbegaokar was an ICS officer who served as the Finance Secretary before becoming the deputy governor of RBI. He was appointed as the interim governor upon the resignation of Benegal Rama Rau.
6H. V. R. Iengar1 March 1957 — 28 February 19624 years, 364 daysIyengar was an ICS officer who served as the chairman of the State Bank of India. Indian coinage was shifted to decimal coinage during his governorship.
7P. C. Bhattacharya1 March 1962 — 30 June 19675 years, 121 daysBhattacharya was an Indian Audit and Accounts Service officer who served as the chairman of the State Bank of India before becoming the governor.
8Lakshmi Kant Jha1 July 1967 — 3 May 19702 years, 306 daysJha was an ICS officer who served as the secretary to the prime minister before becoming the governor. He left the office upon his appointment as the ambassador to the United States.
9B. N. Adarkar4 May 1970 — 15 June 197042 daysAdarkar was an economist who served as the economic advisor to the government before becoming the deputy governor of RBI. He was appointed as the interim governor.
10S. Jagannathan16 June 1970 — 19 May 19754 years, 337 daysJagannathan was an ICS officer who served as India's Executive Director of the World Bank before becoming the governor. He resigned the office to become the India's Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund.
11N. C. Sen Gupta19 May 1975 — 19 August 197592 daysGupta served as the Secretary to the Department of Banking before becoming the interim governor.
12K. R. Puri20 August 1975 — 2 May 19771 year, 255 daysPuri served as the chairman of the Life Insurance Corporation before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw the formation of various regional rural banks.
13M. Narasimham3 May 1977 — 30 November 1977211 daysNarasimham was a RBI research officer who served as an Additional Secretary to the Department of Economic Affairs before becoming the governor.
14I. G. Patel1 December 1977 — 15 September 19824 years, 288 daysPatel was an economist who served as a Secretary in the Ministry of Finance before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw the demonetization of ₹5,000 and ₹10,000 value currency.
15Manmohan Singh16 September 1982 — 14 January 19852 years, 120 daysSingh is an economist who served as the Finance Secretary before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw various legal reforms related to the banking sector.
16Amitav Ghosh15 January 1985 — 4 February 198520 daysGhosh was the deputy governor of RBI who was appointed as the interim governor until R. N. Malhotra assumed the office.
17R. N. Malhotra4 February 1985 — 22 December 19905 years, 321 daysMalhotra was an Indian Administrative Services officer who served as Executive Director of the IMF before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw the inauguration of Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research.
18S. Venkitaramanan22 December 1990 — 21 December 19921 year, 365 daysVenkitaramanan was an IAS officer who served as the Finance Secretary before becoming the governor. India adopted IMF's stabilization program during his governorship.
19C. Rangarajan22 December 1992 — 21 November 19974 years, 334 daysRangarajan is an economist who served as the deputy governor of RBI before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw the establishment of unified exchange rate.
20Bimal Jalan22 November 1997 — 6 September 20035 years, 288 daysJalan is an economist who served at various positions including being the chief economic adviser to the government and serving as the Finance Secretary before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw less inflation and interest rates.
21Y. V. Reddy6 September 2003 — 5 September 20084 years, 365 daysReddy is an IAS officer who served as the deputy governor of RBI before becoming the governor. During his governorship, he contributed in the financial sector reforms and external commercial borrowings.
22D. Subbarao5 September 2008 — 4 September 20134 years, 364 daysSubbarao is an IAS officer who served as the Finance Secretary before becoming the governor. He wrote on various issues including decentralization and public finance.
23Raghuram Rajan4 September 2013 — 4 September 20163 years, 0 daysRajan is an economist who served as the chief economic advisor to the government and the chief economist of IMF before becoming the governor.
24Urjit Patel4 September 2016 — 10 December 20182 years, 98 daysPatel is an economist who worked with the IMF and the central government. He served as the deputy governor of RBI before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw the demonetization of ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes. He later resigned citing personal reasons.
25Shaktikanta Das12 December 2018 — 11 December 20245 years, 365 daysDas 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 before becoming the governor.
26Sanjay Malhotra11 December 2024 — Incumbent1 year, 129 daysMalhotra is an IAS officer who served as the Financial Services Secretary and later Revenue Secretary before becoming the governor.

External links

  • Media related to Reserve Bank of India at Wikimedia Commons