History · Banking awareness

RBI Governors

All 26 Governors of the Reserve Bank of India since it began work on 1 April 1935. Dates from RBI’s official list.

Exam facts

• Current GovernorSanjay Malhotra (since 11 Dec 2024)
• Longest tenureSir Benegal Rama Rau: 7 yrs 6 months 13 days
• Shortest tenure (not counting acting)Amitav Ghosh: 20 days
• First GovernorSir Osborne Smith
• First Indian GovernorSir C. D. Deshmukh
• Governor who later became PMDr Manmohan Singh
• Appointed byCentral Government (RBI Act, 1934, Section 8)

Full list with tenure

Tenure is shown in years, months and days. For the person in office now, it is counted up to 7 November 2026.

1. 1
   Sir Osborne Smith1 Apr 1935 – 30 Jun 19372 yrs 2 months 29 daysFirst Governor of RBI
2. 2
   Sir James Braid Taylor1 Jul 1937 – 17 Feb 19435 yrs 7 months 16 daysDied in office
3. 3
   Sir C. D. Deshmukh11 Aug 1943 – 30 Jun 19495 yrs 10 months 19 daysFirst Indian Governor; later Union Finance Minister
4. 4
   Sir Benegal Rama Rau1 Jul 1949 – 14 Jan 19577 yrs 6 months 13 daysLongest-serving Governor
5. 5
   K. G. Ambegaonkar14 Jan 1957 – 28 Feb 19571 month 14 days
6. 6
   H. V. R. Iengar1 Mar 1957 – 28 Feb 19624 yrs 11 months 27 days
7. 7
   P. C. Bhattacharya1 Mar 1962 – 30 Jun 19675 yrs 3 months 29 days
8. 8
   L. K. Jha1 Jul 1967 – 3 May 19702 yrs 10 months 2 days
9. 9
   B. N. Adarkar4 May 1970 – 15 Jun 19701 month 11 days
10. 10
    S. Jagannathan16 Jun 1970 – 19 May 19754 yrs 11 months 3 days
11. 11
    N. C. Sen Gupta19 May 1975 – 19 Aug 19753 months
12. 12
    K. R. Puri20 Aug 1975 – 2 May 19771 yr 8 months 12 days
13. 13
    M. Narasimham2 May 1977 – 30 Nov 19776 months 28 daysLater chaired the Narasimham Committees on banking reform
14. 14
    Dr I. G. Patel1 Dec 1977 – 15 Sep 19824 yrs 9 months 14 days
15. 15
    Dr Manmohan Singh16 Sep 1982 – 14 Jan 19852 yrs 3 months 29 daysLater Prime Minister (2004–2014)
16. 16
    Amitav Ghosh15 Jan 1985 – 4 Feb 198520 daysShortest tenure
17. 17
    R. N. Malhotra4 Feb 1985 – 22 Dec 19905 yrs 10 months 18 days
18. 18
    S. Venkitaramanan22 Dec 1990 – 21 Dec 19921 yr 11 months 29 days
19. 19
    Dr C. Rangarajan22 Dec 1992 – 22 Nov 19974 yrs 11 months
20. 20
    Dr Bimal Jalan22 Nov 1997 – 6 Sep 20035 yrs 9 months 15 days
21. 21
    Dr Y. V. Reddy6 Sep 2003 – 5 Sep 20084 yrs 11 months 30 days
22. 22
    Dr D. Subbarao5 Sep 2008 – 4 Sep 20134 yrs 11 months 30 days
23. 23
    Dr Raghuram G. Rajan4 Sep 2013 – 4 Sep 20163 yrs
24. 24
    Dr Urjit R. Patel4 Sep 2016 – 11 Dec 20182 yrs 3 months 7 daysResigned
25. 25
    Shaktikanta Das12 Dec 2018 – 10 Dec 20245 yrs 11 months 28 daysSecond-longest tenure after Benegal Rama Rau
26. 26
    Sanjay Malhotra11 Dec 2024 – present1 yr 10 months 27 days so farEarlier Union Revenue Secretary