The highest banking authority in India is Reserve Bank of India .Here is complete list of Governors of RBI from 1935 till date.

Governor of Reserve Bank of India.

RBI Governor is the chief executive of India’s central bank. RBI Governor is also the Chairperson of the RBI Central Board of Directors. The Central Government appoints the RBI Governor , along with the other Deputy Governors. PMO Consults the Finance Minister and the outgoing governor for making the decision.

Work and Duties of an RBI Governor
Some of the Work of RBI Governor are mentioned below :
1. RBI governor is responsible for issuing license for opening upcoming domestic and foreign banks in the country.
2. RBI Governors regulate the financial system of the economy.
3. RBI Governor manages what currencies and coins must be issued or destroyed.
4. RBI Governor participates in promoting major economic objective taken by the states.
5. RBI Governor also monitors and facilitates flow of Credit.
6. Poverty alleviation scheme are also monitored by Governor of RBI.

Governors of RBI (Reserve Bank of India ) Since 1935 till date

Name of RBI Governor	Tenure ( No. of Years/Days )
Sir Osborne Smith	1 April 1935 – 30 June 1937 ( 2 years and 90 days )
Sir James Taylor	1 July 1937 – 17 February 1943 ( 5 years and 231 days )
Sir C D Deshmukh	11 August 1943 – 30 June 1949 ( 5 years and 323 days )
Sir Benegal Rama Rau	1 July 1949 – 14 January 1957 ( 7 years and 197 days )
K G Ambegaonkar	14 January 1957 – 28 February 1957 ( 45 days )
H V R Iengar	1 March 1957 – 28 February 1962 ( 4 years and 364 days )
P C Bhattacharya	1 March 1962 – 30 June 1967 ( 5 years and 121 days )
L K Jha (Lakshmi Kant Jha )	1 July 1967 – 03 May 1970 ( 2 years and 306 days )
B N Adarkar	4 May 1970 – 15 June 1970 ( 42 days )
S Jagannathan	16 June 1970 – 19 May 1975 ( 4 years and 337 days )
N C Sen Gupta	19 May 1975 – 19 August 1975 ( 92 days )
K R Puri	20 August 1975 – 02 May 1977 ( 1 year and 255 days )
M Narasimham	3 May 1977 – 30 November 1977 ( 211 days )
Dr. I G Patel	1 December 1977 – 15 September 1982 ( 4 years and 288 days )
Dr. Manmohan Singh	16 September 1982 – 14 January 1985 ( 2 years and 120 days )
Amitav Ghosh	16 January 1985 – 04 February 1985 ( 20 days )
R N Malhotra	4 February 1985 – 22 December 1990 ( 5 years and 321 days )
S Venkitaramanan	22 December 1990 – 21 December 1992 ( 2 years )
Dr. C Rangarajan	22 December 1992 – 21 November 1997 ( 4 years and 334 days )
Dr. Bimal Jalan	22 November 1997 – 06 September 2003 ( 5 years and 288 days )
Dr. Y V Reddy	06 September 2003 – 05 September 2008 ( 4 years and 365 days )
Dr. D. Subbarao	05 September 2008 – 04 September 2013 ( 4 years and 364 days )
Dr. Raghuram Rajan	04 September 2013 – 04 September 2016 ( 3 years )
Dr. Urjit R. Patel	04 September 2016 – 10 December 2018 ( 2 years and 98 days )
Shri Shaktikanta Das	12 December 2018 – till date

Sir Osborne Smith : Sir Osborne Smith was the first governor of the Reserve Bank of India. His tenure as Governor of RBI was from 01 April 1935 to 30 June 1937. He served the country for 2 years and 90 days. Prior to this post he was the Managing Governor of the Imperial Bank of India. He also served over two decades with the Bank of New South Wales and a decade with Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Sir James Taylor : Sir Taylor James was the second governor of the Reserve Bank of India. He joined the office on 1st July 1937 till 17 February 1943 . His tenure was for 5 years and 231 years. Before joining RBI as Governor, he was Deputy governor of the RBI.

Sir C D Deshmukh : Sir Chintaman Dwakranath Deshmukh ( C. D. Deshmukh) was the third governor of RBI. The point to note is that he was the first Indian governor of the RBI. He was appointed as governor of RBI in August 1943. He joined the office on 11 August 1943 till 30 June 1949. His tenure was for 5 years and 323 days. During this period he also represented India at the Bretton Woods Operation in 1944.

Sir Benegal Rama Rau : Sir Benegal Rama Rau was the fourth governor of RBI. He joined the office on 1 July 1949 till 14 January 1957 . He was the longest serving Governor of Reserve Bank of India. He served for 7 years and 197 days. Prior to this post, he was Ambassador of India to United States , Japan. During his tenure, he took innovative initiatives in the sphere of co-operative credit and industrial finance.

K G Ambegaokar : K. G. Ambegaokar was the fifth governor of RBI. He was appointed as interim governor on 14 January 1957 to 28 February 1957. After him, H V R lengar took the charge as Governor. He served for 45 days. Prior to this post , he was the finance secretary.

H V R Iengar : H V R lengar ,was the sixth governor of RBI. He joined the office as governor on 01 March 1957 . His tenure ended on 28 February 1962. His served for 4 years and 364 days. He has also served as the Chairman of State Bank of India. During his tenure, Deposit Insurance for bank was introduced in 1962.

P C Bhattacharya : P. C. Bhattacharya was the seventh governor of RBI. He has served as secretary in Finance Ministry and also as Chairman of State Bank of India. He became governor of RBI on 01 March 1962 . He served the nation as governor of RBI till 30 June 1967. His tenure was of 5 years and 121 days.

L K Jha : L K Jha ( Lakshmi Kant Jha ) was the eighth governor of Reserve Bank of India. He became governor of RBI on1st July 1967. His term as governor ended on 3rd May 1970. He worked for 2 years and 306 days as governor. Prior to his appointment as governor , he had also served as Secretary to the Prime Minister .

B N Adarkar : B N Adarkar was appointed as the interim governor of RBI from 04 ay 1970 till 15 June 1970. His tenure was for 42 days. He was a professional economist.

S Jagannathan : S Jagannathan was the 10th governor of RBI. He was appointed as governor on 16 June 1970 till 19 May 1975. His tenure was for 4 years and 337 days. Prior to his appointment as Governor of RBI he was the India’s Executive Director at the World Bank.

N C Sen Gupta : N C Sen Gupta was appointed as Governor on 19 July 1975 till 19 August 1975. He worked as governor for three months ( exactly 92 days).

K R Puri : K R Puri served for 1 year and 255 days as governor. His tenure was from 20 August 1975 to 02 May 1977. Prior to this post he was MD and Chairman of LIC India.

M Narasimham : M Narasimham was the 13th governor of RBI. He had served as Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, prior to his appointment as governor. As a governor in RBI, he worked from 02 May 1977 to 30 November 1977. His tenure was for 211 days.

Dr. I G Patel : Dr. I G Patel was an economist and administrator. His tenure witnessed the demonetisation of high denomination notes. He was appointed as governor from 01 December 1977 to 15 September 1982. He worked for 4 years 288 days. Prior to his appointment as governor, he was serving as Secretary in the Ministry of Finance

Dr. Manmohan Singh : Dr. Manmohan Singh was the only governor of RBI who later became the Prime Minister of India. He served as Governor for 2 years and 120 days. By Profession , he a professional economist. Prior to his appointment as Governor, he was Secretary Finance as well as Member Secretary of the Planning Commission .

A Ghosh : A Ghosh was appointed as interim governor for 15 days. He was deputy governor of RBI. In 1982, Before R.N. Malhotra joined the office he took charge as Governor of RBI for 15 days.

R N Malhotra : RN Malhotra was the seventeenth governor of Reserve Bank of India. He joined the office as governor on 22 December 1990 till 21st December 1992. He served for 2 year. Prior to his appointment, he was the Secretary , Finance and Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund. He made efforts to develop money market . During his tenure, the Discount and Finance House of India, the National Housing Bank were set up and the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research inaugurated.

S Venkitaramanan : S. Venkitaramanan was the 18th Governor of the RBI . His tenure was for 2 years from 22 December 1990 to 21 December 1992. He was an IAS Officer.

Dr. C Rangarajan : Dr. C Rangarajan was a professional economist . He was appointed as Governor of RBI from 21 December 1992 to 22 November 1997. His tenure was of 4 years and 334 days. He also worked as Deputy Governor of RBI for more than 10 years.

Dr. Bimal Jalan : Dr. Bimal Jalan was appointed as Governor of RBI for 5 years and 288 days. He joined the office on 22 November 1997 and stayed at the post till 06 September 2003. During his tenure, India weathered the Asian Crisis and has seen the consolidation of the gains of liberalisation and economic reforms.

Dr. Y V Reddy : Dr. Yaga Venugopal Reddy ( Y V Reddy ) made a significant role in the areas of financial sector reforms, trade finance, etc. He was appointed as governor of RBI from 06 September 2003 to 05 September 2008. his tenure was of 5 years.

Dr. D. Subbarao : Dr. D. Subbarao took charge as governor on 5 September 2008. He was the 22nd Governor of RBI. His tenure was of 5 years till 4 September 2013. Prior to his appointment, he was the Finance Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

Dr. Raghuram Rajan : Dr. Raghuram Rajan was the 23rd Governor of Reserve Bank of India. He joined the office on 04 September 2013 till 04 September 2016 . His tenure was of 3 years. His book – Fault lines : How Hidden Fractures Still threaten the world Economy was awarded the Financial Times-Goldman Sachs prize for best business book in 2010.

Dr. Urjit R. Patel : 24th Governor of RBI was Dr. Urjit R. Patel . He was appointed as Deputy Governor twice , first in 2013 then in 2016. He joined the office as governor from 04 September 2016 to 11 December 2018. His tenure as Governor was of 2 years and 98 days.

Shri Shaktikanta Das : IAS Retired, Sh. Shaktikanta das is the present RBI Governor since 12 December 2018.

GK Questions on Governors of RBI

Q1. How many governors are there in RBI ?
Answer : Till today RBI has had 25 governors .

Q2. Who is the 21 governor of RBI ?
Answer : Y. Venugopal Reddy

Q3. Who is first RBI governor?
Answer : Sir Osborne Smith

Q4. Who is the first Deputy Governor of RBI?
Answer : J.V. Joshi

Q5. Who is the first Governor of RBI after independence ?
Answer : Sir C. D. Deshmukh was the first Indian Governor of RBI.

Q6. Who is the headquarter of RBI ?
Answer : Mumbai

Q7. Who is present governor of RBI ?
Answer : Shaktikanta Das

Q8. Who is the 23rd governor of RBI ?
Answer : Raghuram Rajan

Q9. Which governor had the longest tenure ?
Answer : Sir Benegal Rama Rau

Q10. What is the slogan of RBI ?
Answer : cash is king, but digital is divine

RBI Governor FAQs