List of Governors

1. Sir Osborne Smith(01-04-1935 to 30-06-1937) -;Sir Osborne Arkell Smith was the first Governor of the  Reserve Bank of India, a post he held from 1 April 1935 to 30 June 1937.Smith was further appointed a KCIE in the 1932 New Year Honours list,and appointed a KCSI in February 1937.
2. Sir James Braid Taylor(01-07-1937 to 17-02-1943)-;Sir James Braid Taylor was the second  Governor of Reserve bank of India,holding office from 1 July 1937 until his death on 17 February 1943.Taylor, a member of the Indian Civil Service.
3.  Sir C D Deshmukh(11-08-1943 to 30-06-1949)-; Chintaman Dwarkanath Deshmukh was an Indian civil servant and the first Indian to be appointed as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India in 1943 by the British Raj authorities. He subsequently served as the Finance Minister in the union cabinet (1950–1956). 
4. Sir Benegal Rama Rau(01-07-1949 to 14-01-1957)-;Sir Benegal Rama Rau, a member of the Indian Civil Service,was the longest serving Governor of the Bank. Prior to joining the Bank he served as the Indian Ambassador to the United States.joining  civil service in 1919. he was appointed a Companion of the order of the indian empire (CIE) in 1930, and was knighted in 1939 
5. K. G. Ambegaokar(14-01-1957 to 28-02-1957)-;K. G. Ambegaokar, a member of the Indian Civil Service, served as Finance Secretary prior to his appointment as Deputy Governor. On the resignation of B. Rama Rau, he was appointed as the interim Governor till H V R Iengar could take over.
   He forged closer connections between agricultural enterprise and the Reserve Bank’s operations.  " K G Ambegaonkar did not sign any bank notes".
    
6. H V R Iengar(01-03-1957 to 28-02-1962)-;
   H V R Iengar, a member of the Indian Civil Service, served for a brief while as the Chairman of State Bank of India, before being appointed as the Governor of the Reserve Bank. 

   His tenure witnessed India’s shift to decimal coinage from the earlier system. The period saw conscious efforts to consolidate the banking industry. The Bank acquired powers in September 1960 to enforce amalgamations and delicensing of banks. The Bank was also active in catalysing medium term lending to industry by commercial banks by invoking the concept of refinance which led to the establishment of the Refinance Corporation for Industry Ltd. Deposit Insurance for bank deposits was introduced in 1962 making India one of the earliest countries to experiment with Deposit Insurance. In the sphere of monetary policy, the variable cash reserve ratio was used for the first time as were the selective credit controls.

   7. P C Bhattacharya(01-03-1962 to 30-06-1967)-;

   P C Bhattacharya, a member of the Indian Audit and Account Service, served as Secretary in the Finance Ministry and later as Chairman of the State Bank of India prior to his appointment as Governor. 

   His tenure saw the establishment of the Industrial Development Bank of India (1964), and the establishment of the Agricultural Refinance Corporation (1963) and the Unit Trust of India (1964).

   Other developments were the introduction of the Credit Authorisation Scheme as an instrument of Credit Regulation, the devaluation of the Rupee in 1966, with a package of measures including import liberalisation and elimination of export subsidies.

   8. L K Jha.(01-07-1967 to 03-05-1970)-;

   Lakshmi Kant Jha, (22 November 1913 – 16 January 1988), born in Bhagalpur,Bihar.L K Jha, a member of the Indian Civil Service, served as Secretary to the Prime Minister, prior to his appointment as Governor.

   During his tenure,social controls over commercial banks were introduced as an experiment in 1968, as a part of which a National Credit Council was established. Shortly thereafter, 14 major commercial banks were nationalised in 1969, a step which did not have the endorsement of the Reserve Bank.

   Amongst other developments, gold controls were brought on a statutory basis; Deposit Insurance was in principle extended to Cooperative banks; the Lead Bank Scheme was introduced to facilitate credit delivery, and the setting up of the Agricultural Credit Board.L K Jha was appointed India’s Ambassador to the United States in May 1970 prior to the completion of his term as Governor.During his tenure the Indian Rupee notes of denominations of  2, 5, 10, and 100, commemorating the birth centenary of Mahatma Gandhi were released on 2 October 1969, these notes bear his signature, both in English and Hindi.The signature in Hindi, the official language of the Government of India, appeared on the currency notes for the first time during his stewardship of the RBI.

   9.B N Adarkar(04-05-1970 to 15-06-1970)-;                           Bhaskar Namdeo Adarkar was the ninth Governor of the  Reserve Bank of India from 4 May 1970 to 15 June 1970. His term was the second shortest (42 days) after Amitav Ghosh who had served for only 20 days. His term was short since he was filling in as interim before S. Jaganathan took over.He was a professional economist and served for many years in the office of the Economic Adviser of the Government of India and also held important positions in the Ministry of Commerce & Industry prior to his appointment as the Deputy Governor of the Bank.
   10.S.Jagannathan(16-06-1970 to 19-05-1975)-; Sarukkai Jagannathan was the tenth Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 16 June 1970 to 19 May 1975.Educated at the Presidency College Madras, Jagannathan was a member of the Indian Civil Service, and had served with the Central Government. Prior to becoming the Governor of the RBI, he was India's Executive Director at the the World Bank The oil shock of the 1970s was re-elected by a very active monetary policy during his tenure. Other achievement include an expansion of banking offices in pursuance of the objectives of the nationalisation of private banks.The Credit Guarantee Corporation of India, and State Level Bankers' Committees were established during his tenure. Indian rupee notes of  20 and  50 denomination were introduced, and these bore his signature.He relinquished office to take up the post of the India's Executive Director at the  International Monetary Fund.
   11. N.C Sen Gupta(19-05-1975 to 19-08-1975)-;
   

   N C Sen Gupta was appointed Governor for three months till K R Puri could assume office.

   Prior to his appointment as the Governor, he was working as Secretary to the Department of Banking of the Ministry of Finance.

   12. K R Puri(20-08-1975 to 02-05-1977)-;K R Puri served as the Chairman and Managing Director of the Life Insurance Corporation of India before his appointment as Governor.During his tenure, Regional Rural Banks were set up; the Asian Clearing Union commenced operations; the twenty point economic programme was announced and operationalised and a new money supply series introduced.

   13.M.Narasimham(02-05-1977to30-11-1977)-; Maidavolu Narasimham (born 1927) was the thirteenth Governor of the RBI from 2 May 1977 to 30 November 1977.He hails from Mydavolu village of Guntur District in Andhra Pradesh.RBI follows a policy of in house promotions, where all staff persons are promoted internally. The only two jobs where this is not done is for the Governor and one Deputy Governor. In Narasimham's case, in house promotion was upheld even for the Governor's post. Hence he was the first Reserve Bank cadre officer to be appointed as Governor. He had joined the Bank as a Research Officer in the Economic Department. He later joined the Government and prior to his appointment as Governor he served as Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs.After his short term as RBI Governor he served as India's Executive Director at the World Bank and later at the I.M.F Narasimham also served as Secretary in the Ministry of Finance. He was awarded  Padma Vibhushan award in 2000.

    14.Dr. I G Patel(01-12-1977 to 15-09-1982)-;Dr. I G Patel an economist and administrator, joined the Reserve Bank as Governor after serving as Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and thereafter at the UNDP.His tenure witnessed the demonetisation of high denomination notes as well as the ‘gold auctions’ conducted by the Bank on behalf of Government of India. During his tenure six private sector banks were nationalised, targets for priority sector lending introduced, and the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporations were merged, and a Departmental reorganisation was undertaken in the Bank. He played an active role in availing of the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility in 1981 due to balance of payments difficulties. This represented the largest arrangement in IMF’s history at the time.

    15.Dr.Manmohan Singh(16-09-1982to14-01-1985)-;  Dr Manmohan Singh, academic and administrator, had served as Secretary Finance as well as Member Secretary of the Planning Commission prior to his appointment as Governor,During his tenure comprehensive legal reforms were carried out related to the banking sector and a new chapter introduced in the Reserve Bank of India Act and the Urban Banks Department was set up.After his tenure in the Bank, he served in various capacities before being appointed Finance Minister. His tenure as Finance Minister was notable for the fact that he heralded in liberalisation and comprehensive reforms in India.

    16.A Ghosh(15-01-1985 to 04-02-1985)-;Amitav Ghosh was the Deputy Governor of the Bank since 1982 when he was appointed Governor for a brief period of 15 days till R N Malhotra could take over. He was earlier the chairman of Allahabad Bank prior to his appointment as the Deputy Governor of the Bank. He was also a Director of the Industrial Development Bank of India and the governing body of the National Institute of Bank Management
   

   17.  R.N. Malhotra(04-02-1985 to 22-12-1990)-;
   R. N. Malhotra (born 1926; died April 29, 1997)was the seventeenth governor of the RBI, serving from 4 February 1985 to 22 December 1990.R.N. Malhotra, a member of the Indian Administrative Service, served as Secretary, Finance and Executive Director of the IMF. prior to his appointment as Governor.During his tenure efforts were made to develop the money markets and new instruments were introduced. The Discount and Finance House of India, the National Housing Bank were set up and the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research inaugurated. In the field of rural finance, the Service Area Approach was adopted as an approach catalyse the flow of credit through commercial banks.

   18.S Venkitaramanan(22-12-1990 to 21-12-1992)-;
   S. Venkitaramanan was the eighteenth Governor of the RBI,from 22 December 1990 to 22 December 1992.S Venkitaramanan, a member of the Indian Administrative Service, had served as Finance Secretary and adviser to the Government of Karnataka prior to his appointment as Governor.The country faced difficulties related to the external sector during his tenure. His adroit management saw the country tide over the balance of payments crisis. His term also saw India adopt the IMF’s stabilisation programme where the Rupee underwent a devaluation and the launch of the programme of economic reforms.

   19.Dr. C Rangarajan(22-12-1992 to 21-11-1997)-;
   Chakravarthi Rangarajan (born 1932) is an Indian economist and a distinguished former Member of Parliament and Ex-Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. He is the former Chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, he resigned the day the UPA went out of power.       He is also the Chairman of the Madras School of Economics, President of the Indian Statistical Institute  and the Founding Chairman of the CR Rao Advanced Institute of Mathematics,Statistics and Computer Science. Dr. C Rangarajan was a professional economist. Prior to his appointment as the Governor, he held charge as Deputy Governor for over a decade. He was also a member of the Planning Commission and a member of the Tenth Finance Commission.His tenure as Governor saw unprecedented central bank activism to put in place a comprehensive set of measures to strengthen and improve the competitive efficiency of the financial sector. New institutions and instruments were introduced and changes in exchange rate management culminated in the establishment of a unified exchange rate. In the field of monetary policy, his tenure saw the historic memorandum signed between the Bank and the Government whereby a cap was put on the automatic finance by the Bank to the Government in the form of ad hoc treasury bills.

   20.Dr. Bimal Jalan(22-11-1997 to 06-09-2003)-;Bimal Jalan (born August 17, 1941) is a 20th Governor of RBI and a nominated member of the Upper House of India's Parliament, the Rajya sabha during 2003–2009.Dr. Bimal Jalan, served as Chief Economic Advisor to Government of India, Banking Secretary, Finance Secretary, Member Secretary of Planning Commission, and Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister prior to being appointed as Governor. He had also represented India on the Executive Boards of the IMF and the World Bank.During his tenure, India weathered the Asian Crisis and has seen the consolidation of the gains of liberalisation and economic reforms. The monetary policy process was demystified and central bank communications marked a perceived shift towards transparency.This period has seen a slew of measures to strengthen the banking sector, establish new institutions and introduce new instruments. The period has been characterised by the strengthning of the balance of payments and forex position,low inflation and soft interest rates.

    21.Dr. Y V Reddy(06-09-2003 to 05-09-2008)-;Dr. Yaga Venugopal Reddy better known as Y. V. Reddy, (born 17 August 1941) is an  IAS officer of the 1964 batch who served as Governor of the RBI (India's central bank) from 6 September 2003 until 5 September 2008.In 2010, he was awarded India's second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan.  He has spent most of his career in the areas of finance and planning. He served as Secretary (Banking) in Ministry of Finance, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Joint Secretary in Ministry of Finance in Government of India, Principal Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh and had a a six year tenure as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Prior to his appointment as the Governor, Dr. Reddy was India's Executive Director on the Board of the International Monetary Fund.Dr. Reddy has made significant policy contributions in the areas of financial sector reforms; trade finance; monitoring of balance of payments and exchange rate; external commercial borrowings; centre-state financial relations; regional planning; and public enterprise reform and has been closely associated with institution building. He has several publications to his credit mainly in areas relating to finance, planning and public enterprises

   22.Dr. D. Subbarao(05-09-2008 to 04-09-13)-;Born on August 11, 1949, Dr. Subbarao holds a B.Sc (Hons) in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and M.Sc in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Dr. Subbarao also holds an MS degree in Economics from Ohio State University. He was a Humphrey fellow at MIT during 1982-83. He has a Ph.D. in Economics with thesis on fiscal reforms at the sub-national level. Dr. Subbarao was a topper in the All India Civil Service examination for entry into Indian Administrative Services and Indian Foreign Services in 1972. He was one of the first IITians to join the civil service.He was the 22nd Governor of RBI.
   

   23.Dr. Raghuram Rajan(04-09-2013 to date-;Dr. Raghuram Rajan assumed charge as the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India on September 4, 2013. Prior to this, he was the Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, Government of India and the Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago’s Booth School. Between 2003 and 2006, Dr. Rajan was the Chief Economist and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund.Dr. Rajan’s research interests are in banking, corporate finance, and economic development, especially the role finance plays in it. He has co-authored Saving Capitalism from the Capitalistswith Luigi Zingales in 2003. He then wrote Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy, for which he was awarded the Financial Times-Goldman Sachs prize for best business book in 2010.Dr. Rajan is a member of the Group of Thirty. He was the President of the American Finance Association in 2011 and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In January 2003, the American Finance Association awarded Dr. Rajan the inaugural Fischer Black Prize for the best finance researcher under the age of 40. The other awards he has received include the global Indian of the year award from NASSCOM in 2011, the Infosys prize for the Economic Sciences in 2012, and the Center for Financial Studies-Deutsche Bank Prize for financial economics in 2013.Born on February 3, 1963, Dr. Rajan is married to Radhika and has two children.