Who should be the next RBI Governor? Vote!

India is looking for an ideal candidate to take up one of the most powerful jobs in the country.

With RBI governor Duvvuri Subbarao retiring in September, 2013, the government is on the look out for the most eligible person to head the Reserve Bank of India.

Subbarao, who was earlier the economic adviser to Prime Minster Mammohan Singh, has been at the helm since 2008. His term was extended by two years in 2011.

After Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram made it clear that Subbarao is not keen on an extension, the search intensified to fill the post of India’s most competent banker. 

Since 1935, the RBI has been controlled by 22 governors. A Governor has the power to take bold and independent decisions. Some of the policy changes have dis...

Raghuram Rajan

Chief Economic Adviser 

India chief economic adviser, Raghuram Rajan is tipped to be one of the front runners for the Governor’s post.

After joining as the economic adviser in August 2012, he prepared the first Economic Survey for India for the year 2013-14.

Being abroad for most part of his career, Rajan is credited with a broad global perspective on economic issues. He also shares a good rapport with the Prime Minister’s office and the Finance Ministry. 

However, many consider him an ‘outsider’ as he is not part of the ‘IAS’ cadre and has not been part of the Indian bureaucracy. Earlier, he served as the chief economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Rajan’s involvement in banking, corporate finance and economic development are well known. In 2005, when he predicted the global economic crisis, several bankers and economists dismissed it as a preposterous view.  

His book, ‘Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy’, won the Financial Times Business Book of the Year award in 2010.

Rajan also serves as Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. 

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Arvind Mayaram

Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs 

Considering that 14 of the 22 RBI governors had a strong civil services background, Arvind Mayaram has a clear advantage. 

A sound knowledge about the monetary and economic policies, experience in the Finance Ministry, Arvind Mayaram has a good chance to become the next RBI governor. 

The Economic Affairs Secretary is said to be Chidambaram’s preferred candidate. He is responsible for pushing policy measures to boost infrastructure and foreign direct investment.

He was earlier Special Secretary and Financial Adviser, Ministry of Rural Development. Mayaram played an important role in developing public private partnership (PPP) policy for infrastructure projects.

A confident Mayaram, sees a turnaround in the economy by the end of this year. He also expects the government to meet the fiscal deficit target of 4.8 per cent.

Saumitra Chaudhuri

Planning Commission member

A member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, Saumitra Chaudhuri’s name is also doing the rounds.  Chaudhuri is  considered to be Manmohan Singh’s preference for the post of RBI Governor.

In an interview to Business Standard, Chaudhuri, who is known as the government’s trouble shooter, said “The only trinity I believe in is the Divine. Human-made obstacles have human solutions.” 

A man with answers for India’s taxing economic issues, Chaudhuri’s expertise and acumen in economics and financial affairs is an added advantage. He believes a GDP growth of 5.5 to 6 per cent looks reasonable.

Saumitra Chaudhuri joined the Planning Commission as a Member in June 2009. 

Before joining the government, he was with ICRA, a credit rating agency for sixteen years and editor of research publication Money & Finance. 

He began his working career in the Bureau of Industrial Costs & Prices, Ministry of Industry from 1981–83.

Sumit Bose

Revenue Secretary

Sumit Bose who joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1976, has strong credentials to take over as RBI governor. 

He was Secretary in the Thirteenth Finance Commission and the Principal Secretary, Finance, in the Government of Madhya Pradesh, between 2004 and 2007.  

As Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Human Resource Development, he was assigned the task of launching the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.  

Sumit Bose has also served as Disinvestment Secretary. He was secretary of the 13th Finance Commission.

Bose has helped the government in planning a roadmap for divestment of many public sector undertakings.

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Urjit Patel

Deputy Governor , RBI

Another economic expert, who is likely to be considered for the post of RBI governor is Urjit Patel, who took over as the fourth Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India in January, 2013. 

Patel was earlier Advisor (Energy & Infrastructure), The Boston Consulting Group. 

Patel was also with International Monetary Fund (IMF) between 1990 and 1995. 

While on a one-year deputation from the IMF to the Reserve Bank of India, he offered advice on development of the debt market, banking sector reforms, pension fund reforms, real exchange rate targeting and evolution of the foreign exchange market. 

He was also a Consultant to the Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs, from 1998-2001.

Patel has authored papers on Indian macroeconomics, public finance, infrastructure, financial intermediation, international trade and the economics of climate change.