{"id":14241,"date":"2026-07-09T17:39:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T12:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.class24.study\/current-affairs\/?post_type=academic_content&p=14241"},"modified":"2026-07-09T17:39:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T12:09:02","slug":"rbi-governors","status":"publish","type":"academic_content","link":"https:\/\/www.class24.study\/current-affairs\/rbi-governors\/","title":{"rendered":"List of RBI Governors in India: Tenure, Contributions & Key Facts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0RBI 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\u20132026)<\/span><\/p>\n

List of RBI Governors from 1935 to 2026, Complete Timeline<\/span><\/h2>\n

RBI Governors List 1935 to 2026: The complete timeline of all 26 Governors of the Reserve Bank of India \u2013 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<\/span><\/p>\n

List of RBI Governors in India (1935\u20132026): Name & Tenure<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
S. No.<\/b><\/td>\nRBI Governor<\/b><\/td>\nTenure<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/span><\/td>\nSir Osborne Smith<\/span><\/td>\n1 Apr 1935 \u2013 30 Jun 1937<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/span><\/td>\nSir James Braid Taylor<\/span><\/td>\n1 Jul 1937 \u2013 17 Feb 1943<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/span><\/td>\nSir C. D. Deshmukh<\/span><\/td>\n11 Aug 1943 \u2013 30 Jun 1949<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/span><\/td>\nSir Benegal Rama Rau<\/span><\/td>\n1 Jul 1949 \u2013 14 Jan 1957<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/span><\/td>\nK. G. Ambegaonkar <\/span>(Acting)<\/span><\/i><\/td>\n14 Jan 1957 \u2013 28 Feb 1957<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/span><\/td>\nH. V. R. Iengar<\/span><\/td>\n1 Mar 1957 \u2013 28 Feb 1962<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/span><\/td>\nP. C. Bhattacharya<\/span><\/td>\n1 Mar 1962 \u2013 30 Jun 1967<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/span><\/td>\nL. K. Jha<\/span><\/td>\n1 Jul 1967 \u2013 3 May 1970<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/span><\/td>\nB. N. Adarkar <\/span>(Acting)<\/span><\/i><\/td>\n4 May 1970 \u2013 15 Jun 1970<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/span><\/td>\nS. Jagannathan<\/span><\/td>\n16 Jun 1970 \u2013 19 May 1975<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11<\/span><\/td>\nN. C. Sen Gupta <\/span>(Acting)<\/span><\/i><\/td>\n19 May 1975 \u2013 19 Aug 1975<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12<\/span><\/td>\nK. R. Puri<\/span><\/td>\n20 Aug 1975 \u2013 2 May 1977<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13<\/span><\/td>\nM. Narasimham<\/span><\/td>\n3 May 1977 \u2013 30 Nov 1977<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14<\/span><\/td>\nDr I. G. Patel<\/span><\/td>\n1 Dec 1977 \u2013 15 Sep 1982<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15<\/span><\/td>\nDr. Manmohan Singh<\/span><\/td>\n16 Sep 1982 \u2013 14 Jan 1985<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
16<\/span><\/td>\nA. Ghosh <\/span>(Acting)<\/span><\/i><\/td>\n15 Jan 1985 \u2013 4 Feb 1985<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
17<\/span><\/td>\nR. N. Malhotra<\/span><\/td>\n4 Feb 1985 \u2013 22 Dec 1990<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
18<\/span><\/td>\nS. Venkitaramanan<\/span><\/td>\n22 Dec 1990 \u2013 21 Dec 1992<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
19<\/span><\/td>\nDr. C. Rangarajan<\/span><\/td>\n22 Dec 1992 \u2013 21 Nov 1997<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
20<\/span><\/td>\nDr. Bimal Jalan<\/span><\/td>\n22 Nov 1997 \u2013 5 Sep 2003<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
21<\/span><\/td>\nDr. Y. V. Reddy<\/span><\/td>\n6 Sep 2003 \u2013 5 Sep 2008<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
22<\/span><\/td>\nDr. D. Subbarao<\/span><\/td>\n5 Sep 2008 \u2013 4 Sep 2013<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
23<\/span><\/td>\nDr Raghuram G. Rajan<\/span><\/td>\n4 Sep 2013 \u2013 4 Sep 2016<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
24<\/span><\/td>\nDr Urjit R. Patel<\/span><\/td>\n4 Sep 2016 \u2013 11 Dec 2018<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
25<\/span><\/td>\nShri Shaktikanta Das<\/span><\/td>\n12 Dec 2018 \u2013 10 Dec 2024<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
26<\/span><\/td>\nShri Sanjay Malhotra<\/span><\/td>\n11 Dec 2024 \u2013 Incumbent (2026)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

First Governor of the RBI, Sir Osborne Smith – RBI Governors<\/span><\/h2>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Major RBI Governors and Their Key Reforms – RBI Governors<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
RBI Governor<\/b><\/td>\nTenure<\/b><\/td>\nKey Reforms & Contributions<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dr. C. Rangarajan<\/b><\/td>\n1992\u20131997<\/b><\/td>\nLed <\/span>financial sector reforms<\/b> 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.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dr. Bimal Jalan<\/b><\/td>\n1997\u20132003<\/b><\/td>\nStrengthened <\/span>foreign exchange reserve management<\/b>, maintained monetary stability during the Asian Financial Crisis, improved investor confidence, and enhanced India’s macroeconomic stability.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dr. Y. V. Reddy<\/b><\/td>\n2003\u20132008<\/b><\/td>\nIntroduced <\/span>prudent banking regulations<\/b>, conservative monetary policies, stronger risk management, and capital adequacy measures that helped India withstand the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dr. D. Subbarao<\/b><\/td>\n2008\u20132013<\/b><\/td>\nManaged the <\/span>Global Financial Crisis<\/b> by adopting monetary easing, liquidity support measures, and policy interventions to maintain financial stability and support economic growth.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dr Raghuram G. Rajan<\/b><\/td>\n2013\u20132016<\/b><\/td>\nIntroduced the <\/span>Flexible Inflation Targeting Framework<\/b>, launched the <\/span>Asset Quality Review (AQR)<\/b> to identify NPAs, licensed <\/span>Small Finance Banks<\/b> and <\/span>Payment Banks<\/b>, and strengthened banking transparency and monetary policy credibility.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dr Urjit R. Patel<\/b><\/td>\n2016\u20132018<\/b><\/td>\nImplemented the <\/span>Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)<\/b> framework, institutionalised committee-based interest rate decisions, managed monetary policy during the post-demonetisation period, and reinforced inflation targeting.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Shri Shaktikanta Das<\/b><\/td>\n2018\u20132024<\/b><\/td>\nLed the RBI during the <\/span>COVID-19 pandemic<\/b>, introduced liquidity support measures and regulatory relief, expanded <\/span>UPI<\/b> and digital payments, and oversaw the pilot launch of the <\/span>Central Bank Digital Currency (Digital Rupee\/e\u20b9)<\/b>.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

List of RBI Governors in India (1935\u20132026) FAQs<\/span><\/h2>\n