RBI Governors: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is India’s central bank, established on 1 April 1935. The reserves act as a Regulator that oversees all activities conducted in the country to maintain monetary stability. There have been 26 Governors of the RBI since its establishment, and their contributions have played a vital role in the development of India’s financial and economic policies. Ever since Sir Osborne Smith (the first RBI Governor) to the present Shri Sanjay Malhotra, they all have contributed through radical to strategic reforms, key monetary policy decisions, successful containment of inflation, financial inclusion initiatives and more importantly, banking regulation. In this article, List of RBI Governors in India (1935–2026)
List of RBI Governors from 1935 to 2026, Complete Timeline
RBI Governors List 1935 to 2026: The complete timeline of all 26 Governors of the Reserve Bank of India – tenures, notable contributions and milestones. It provides a brief account of the evolution of India’s monetary policy, financial stability and banking system from 1935, when the RBI was founded, and the leadership at that time. Below the List of RBI Governors from 1935 to 2026 table
List of RBI Governors in India (1935–2026): Name & Tenure
| S. No. | RBI Governor | Tenure |
| 1 | Sir Osborne Smith | 1 Apr 1935 – 30 Jun 1937 |
| 2 | Sir James Braid Taylor | 1 Jul 1937 – 17 Feb 1943 |
| 3 | Sir C. D. Deshmukh | 11 Aug 1943 – 30 Jun 1949 |
| 4 | Sir Benegal Rama Rau | 1 Jul 1949 – 14 Jan 1957 |
| 5 | K. G. Ambegaonkar (Acting) | 14 Jan 1957 – 28 Feb 1957 |
| 6 | H. V. R. Iengar | 1 Mar 1957 – 28 Feb 1962 |
| 7 | P. C. Bhattacharya | 1 Mar 1962 – 30 Jun 1967 |
| 8 | L. K. Jha | 1 Jul 1967 – 3 May 1970 |
| 9 | B. N. Adarkar (Acting) | 4 May 1970 – 15 Jun 1970 |
| 10 | S. Jagannathan | 16 Jun 1970 – 19 May 1975 |
| 11 | N. C. Sen Gupta (Acting) | 19 May 1975 – 19 Aug 1975 |
| 12 | K. R. Puri | 20 Aug 1975 – 2 May 1977 |
| 13 | M. Narasimham | 3 May 1977 – 30 Nov 1977 |
| 14 | Dr I. G. Patel | 1 Dec 1977 – 15 Sep 1982 |
| 15 | Dr. Manmohan Singh | 16 Sep 1982 – 14 Jan 1985 |
| 16 | A. Ghosh (Acting) | 15 Jan 1985 – 4 Feb 1985 |
| 17 | R. N. Malhotra | 4 Feb 1985 – 22 Dec 1990 |
| 18 | S. Venkitaramanan | 22 Dec 1990 – 21 Dec 1992 |
| 19 | Dr. C. Rangarajan | 22 Dec 1992 – 21 Nov 1997 |
| 20 | Dr. Bimal Jalan | 22 Nov 1997 – 5 Sep 2003 |
| 21 | Dr. Y. V. Reddy | 6 Sep 2003 – 5 Sep 2008 |
| 22 | Dr. D. Subbarao | 5 Sep 2008 – 4 Sep 2013 |
| 23 | Dr Raghuram G. Rajan | 4 Sep 2013 – 4 Sep 2016 |
| 24 | Dr Urjit R. Patel | 4 Sep 2016 – 11 Dec 2018 |
| 25 | Shri Shaktikanta Das | 12 Dec 2018 – 10 Dec 2024 |
| 26 | Shri Sanjay Malhotra | 11 Dec 2024 – Incumbent (2026) |
First Governor of the RBI, Sir Osborne Smith – RBI Governors
The first Governor of the RBI, Sir Osborne Smith, held office from 1 April 1935 to 30 June 1937, right from the time of establishment of the RBI. He had been a professional banker who worked with the Bank of New South Wales, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and was subsequently Managing Governor at Imperial Bank of India. He was forced to resign before the completion of his term due to some differences with the Government of India over exchange rate policies and interest rate policies, while he was in office. Interestingly, none of the Indian banknotes was signed by Sir Osborne Smith while he served as RBI Governor.
Major RBI Governors and Their Key Reforms – RBI Governors
| RBI Governor | Tenure | Key Reforms & Contributions |
| Dr. C. Rangarajan | 1992–1997 | Led financial sector reforms after the 1991 economic liberalisation, strengthened prudential banking norms, improved financial regulation, enhanced foreign exchange management, and laid the foundation for India’s modern monetary policy framework. |
| Dr. Bimal Jalan | 1997–2003 | Strengthened foreign exchange reserve management, maintained monetary stability during the Asian Financial Crisis, improved investor confidence, and enhanced India’s macroeconomic stability. |
| Dr. Y. V. Reddy | 2003–2008 | Introduced prudent banking regulations, conservative monetary policies, stronger risk management, and capital adequacy measures that helped India withstand the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. |
| Dr. D. Subbarao | 2008–2013 | Managed the Global Financial Crisis by adopting monetary easing, liquidity support measures, and policy interventions to maintain financial stability and support economic growth. |
| Dr Raghuram G. Rajan | 2013–2016 | Introduced the Flexible Inflation Targeting Framework, launched the Asset Quality Review (AQR) to identify NPAs, licensed Small Finance Banks and Payment Banks, and strengthened banking transparency and monetary policy credibility. |
| Dr Urjit R. Patel | 2016–2018 | Implemented the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) framework, institutionalised committee-based interest rate decisions, managed monetary policy during the post-demonetisation period, and reinforced inflation targeting. |
| Shri Shaktikanta Das | 2018–2024 | Led the RBI during the COVID-19 pandemic, introduced liquidity support measures and regulatory relief, expanded UPI and digital payments, and oversaw the pilot launch of the Central Bank Digital Currency (Digital Rupee/e₹). |
