Table of Contents
RBI Governors List
RBI or Reserve Bank of India is the Central Bank of India and as its preamble says it is established “to regulate the issue of Bank notes and keeping of reserves with a view of securing monetary stability in India and generally to operate the currency and credit system of the country to its advantage; to have a modern monetary policy framework to meet the challenge of an increasingly complex economy, to maintain price stability while keeping in mind the objective of growth.
RBI Governors
- The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India is the chief executive officer of India’s central bank
- He is the ex-officio chair of its Central Board of Directors.
- 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-five governors.
- Sir Osborn smith was the first Governor of RBI
RBI Governors: A Brief History
In 1926, the Hilton Young Commission recommended the setting up of the Reserve Bank of India. The Reserve Bank of India came into existence on April 1, 1935 in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. Initially The central office of RBI was established in Kolkata but in 1937 it was permanently shifted to Mumbai. The Central Office is where the Governor sits and where policies are formulated. During the colonial era RBI was privately owned. After independence, in 1949, the Reserve Bank was fully owned by the Government of India.
RBI Governor : Shaktikanta Das
Shaktikanta Das (born 26 February 1957) is a retired 1980 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Tamil Nadu cadre. Currently serving as the 25th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), he was earlier a member of the Fifteenth Finance Commission and India’s Sherpa to the G20.
RBI Governors List From 1935 to 2021
| S. No. | Name of Governor | Tenure |
| 1 | Sir Osborne Smith | April 1, 1935 – June 30, 1937 |
| 2 | Sir James Braid Taylor | July 1, 1937 – February 17, 1943 |
| 3 | Sir C.D. Deshmukh | August 11, 1943 – June 30, 1949 |
| 4 | Sir Bengal Rama Rau | July 1, 1949 – January 14, 1957 |
| 5 | K.G. Ambegaonkar | January 14, 1957 – February 28, 1957 |
| 6 | H.V.R Lyengar | March 1, 1957 – February 28, 1962 |
| 7 | P.C Bhattacharya | March 1, 1962 – June 30, 1967 |
| 8 | L.K. Jha | July 1, 1967 – May 3, 1970 |
| 9 | B.N. Adarkar | May 4, 1970 – June 15, 1970 |
| 10 | S. Jagannathan | June 16, 1970 – May 19, 1975 |
| 11 | N.C. Sen Gupta | May 19, 1975 – August 19, 1975 |
| 12 | K.R. Puri | August 20, 1975 – May 2, 1977 |
| 13 | M. Narasimham | May 3, 1977 – November 30, 1977 |
| 14 | I.G. Patel | December 1, 1977 – September 15, 1982 |
| 15 | Manmohan Singh | September 16, 1982 – January 14, 1985 |
| 16 | Amitav Gosh | January 15, 1985 – September 4, 1985 |
| 17 | R.N. Malhotra | February 4, 1985 – December 22, 1990 |
| 18 | S. Vpnldraramanan | December 22, 1990 – December 21, 1992 |
| 19 | C. Rangarajan | December 22, 1992 – November 21, 1997 |
| 20 | Bimal Jalan | November 22, 1997 – September 6, 2003 |
| 21 | Y.V. Reddy | September 6, 2003 – September 5, 2008 |
| 22 | D. Subbarao | September 5, 2008 – September 4, 2013 |
| 23 | Raghuram G. Raj an | September 4, 2013 – September 4, 2016 |
| 24 | Urjit Ravindra Patel | September 4, 2016 – December 10,2018 |
| 25 | Shaktikanta Das | December 12, 2018 – to Present |
RBI Governors List: FAQs
Q1. Who was the first Indian Governor of RBI?
Ans. Sir C. D. Deshmukh was the first Indian Governor of RBI.
Q2. How many governors Does RBI have in India?
Ans. Total 25 governors have served the RBI.
Q3. Is Manmohan Singh RBI governor?
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