RBI Governors List of India - Summary
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the highest monetary authority in India. Since its establishment in 1935, by the British colonial government, 25 people have worked as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India so far. The personality of the governor assumes importance in a specific context, the governor, more than any public or private functionary in the country has the mandate of securing the monetary stability of the country. This impinges on the day-to-day life of ordinary citizens.
The first Governor of the Reserve Bank of India was a British banker, Osborn Smith, while C.D. Deshmukh was the first Indian Governor of Reserve Bank of India. At present, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India is Shashikant Das, who took charge on 12 Dec. 2018.
Latest RBI Governors List 2025
| RBI Governors | Time Period 1935-2022 |
|---|---|
| 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 – February 4, 1985 |
| R.N. Malhotra | February 4, 1985 – December 22, 1990 |
| S. Vpnldraramanan | December 22, 1990 – December 21, 1992 |
| C. Rangarajan | 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 – to date |
Duties, Roles & Responsibilities of RBI Governor
- Being the head of the most prestigious financial institutions, the RBI governors are responsible for maintaining the monetary stability in an economy. Thus, plays an important role in formulating the policies of the Reserve Bank of India.
- The responsibility for issuing licenses to open new foreign and private banks is also headed by the governor of RBI.
- The power to control the interest rates on advances and deposits of the country is vested upon the governors. However, the scope of this power is limited to prescribing minimum lending rates and interest rates on savings accounts.
- The financial system of the nation is regulated and administered by the Governor and he only sets the parameters within which the whole financial system functions.
- The Governor of RBI manages the external trade and payment also promotes orderly development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in India which comes under the foreign exchange management act, 1999.
- Monitoring of adequate quantities of currency notes and coins supply in the country and the issuance and destruction of currency that is not fit for circulation in public.
- RBI Governor also keeps a check on rules and regulations in order to make them more customer-friendly.
- Through Urban Bank Departments RBI governor leads and supervise primary co-operative banks.
- Furthermore, RBI Governor also has a part to play in facilitating and monitoring the flow of credit to small scale industries, rural, and agricultural sectors. The responsibility for regulating state co-operative banks, regional rural banks, and various local area banks.
RBI Governor Power
We can understand them with the help of the following points:
- Banker’s banker
- Heads all the commercial banks
- Influence on micro and macro economies
- Control over stock market
- Signatures on currency notes
- Control over monetary, currency and credit system
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