The Reserve Bank of India is the nation’s central bank. It is in charge of overseeing the country’s monetary policies. The RBI came into existence on April 1, 1935, under the RBI Act of 1934, on the proposal of the “Hilton – Young Commission.” The Reserve Bank of India is headquartered in Mumbai; however, it was founded in Kolkata and moved to Mumbai in 1937. The Indian government appoints the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. RBI has had 25 governors this date. In 1935, Osborne Smith became the RBI’s first governor, and Shaktikanta Das is the present RBI Governor. The formation of monetary policy is one of the RBI’s primary tasks.

Eligibility for Governor

RBI Governors used to be members of the Indian Civil Services, such as C. D. Deshmukh and Bengal Rama Rao. Still, anybody with a Graduate degree, Post Graduate degree, or Chartered Accountant could become a Governor of the RBI if they have worked in one of the following institutions:

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (W.B.)
• A bank’s chairman or general manager.
• Financial or banking institution with a good reputation
• Finance Ministerial Office (GOI)

Aside from those mentioned above, any citizen aged 35 or older is eligible. The person can’t be a member of Parliament or the State Legislature, and he can’t hold any other paid position. The Prime Minister’s Office does not nominate the RBI Governor on the advice of the Union Finance Minister.

Governor of RBI’s Tenure

The constitution specifies that an RBI Governor’s term is three years; however, it can be prolonged for another two years. The Governor can be removed from office in one of two ways:

• If the President dismisses them
• The Governor sends his resignation to the President.

Governor of RBI’s Responsibilities

The RBI Governor of India is responsible for the following responsibilities.

• The governors of RBI ensure monetary stability in a country’s economy. Hence, it plays an essential part in the Reserve Bank of India’s policy formulation.
• The Governor of the RBI is also in charge of providing licenses to start new private and foreign banks.
• The governors have the authority to determine the country’s interest rates on loans and deposits. However, the extent of this power is restricted to mandating minimum loan rates and savings account interest rates.
• The RBI Governorregulates and administers the nation’s financial system, and he merely establishes the limits under which the entire financial system operates.
• The Governor of RBI is in charge of managing external trade and payments and promoting the orderly growth and maintenance of India’s foreign currency market, which is governed by the Foreign Exchange Management Act of 1999.
• Monitoring the availability of sufficient amounts of money notes and coins in the country and the issue and destruction of cash that is not fit for public circulation.
• The Governor maintains an eye on laws and regulations to see whether they may be made more customer-friendly.
• RBI governors lead and monitor primary cooperative banks through their Urban Bank Departments.
• In addition, the RBI Governorhas a role to play in facilitating and overseeing loan flows to small businesses, rural areas, and agricultural sectors. Regulatory authority over state cooperative banks, rural banks, and community banks.

RBI Governor List: Full Table

The following is a list of RBI Governors from 1935 until now:

Conclusion

Shaktikanta Das is the current RBI Governor . He is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre from the 1980 batch. He was a part of the 15th Finance Commission and India’s Sherpa to the G20 before becoming the 25th governor of RBI. Aspirants for government or other competitive exams should be familiar with the list of RBI Governors and the length of time they have served the organization. This topic is relevant for all forms of competitive tests’ general awareness sections and the Polity component.