Shaktikanta Das (born 26 February 1957) is serving as the current & 25th

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the

Reserve Bank of India The Reserve Bank of India, chiefly known as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is responsible f ...

(RBI). He was earlier a member of the FifteenthFinance Commission and India's Sherpa to the G20. Das is a retired 1980batch

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services ...

(IAS) officer of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

cadre. During his career as an IAS officer, Das served in various capacities for

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

and

governments, including as Economic Affairs Secretary, Revenue Secretary, Fertilizers Secretary. He has also served as India’s Alternate Governor in the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

, ADB, NDB & AIIB. He has represented India in various international forums like the

IMF The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glob ...

, G20,

BRICS BRICS is an acronym for five leading emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The first four were initially grouped as "BRIC" (or "the BRICs") in 2001 by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill, who coined the te ...

SAARC The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan ...

, etc.

Early life and education

Born in

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar i ...

, Das was schooled at the Demonstration Multipurpose School, Bhubaneswar, and then obtained

bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...

( BA) and

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

degrees ( MA) in

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

from the St. Stephen's College at the

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE ...

. He was awarded D.Litt. by

Utkal University Utkal University (UU) is a Public university in Bhubaneswar, Khordha district, Khordha, Odisha, and is the oldest university in Odisha, the state, and the 17th-oldest university in India. It is a teaching-cum-affiliating university. The pre ...

in 2021.

Career as an IAS officer

Das served in various positions for both the

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

and the

Government of Tamil Nadu Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature ...

, like as

Principal Secretary The Principal Secretary is a senior government official in various Commonwealth countries. * Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Pakistan * Principal Secretary to the President of Pakistan * Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of Ind ...

( Industries), Special Commissioner (

Revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive rev ...

), Secretary (Revenue), Secretary Commercial Taxes, the project director of Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society and as the

district magistrate and collector A District Collector-cum-District Magistrate (also known as Deputy Commissioner in some states) is an All India Service officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre who is responsible for ''land revenue collection'', ''canal revenu ...

of Dindigul and

Kancheepuram Kanchipuram ('; ) also known as ''Conjeevaram,'' is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from Chennaithe capital of Tamil Nadu. Known as the ''City of Thousand Temples'', Kanchipuram is known for its temple ...

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

in the Tamil Nadu government; and as Union Economic Affairs Secretary, Union Revenue Secretary, Union Fertilizers Secretary, Special secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs of the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

and as a

joint secretary Joint Secretary to Government of India (often abbreviated as JS, GoI or Union Joint Secretary or Joint Secretary to Union of India) is a post under the Central Staffing Scheme and the third highest non-political executive rank in Government of I ...

in the Department of Expenditure of the

in the

Indian government The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. Das also had a stint with Mahindra Industrial Park Ltd (

Mahindra World City Mahindra World City (MWC) is part of the USD 19.4 billion Mahindra Group, which is active in diverse markets including automotive, farm equipment, defense, hospitality, manufacturing, aerospace, retail, finance, real estate, and infrastructure. The ...

), on deputation to a private sector company under Rule6(2)(ii) of the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954. Shaktikanta Das, IAS signing FATCA

Revenue Secretary

Das was appointed Union Revenue Secretary by the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

-led-

Appointments Committee of the Cabinet The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) appoints several top posts within the Government of India. The committee is composed of the Prime Minister of India (''ex-officio'' Chairman) and the Minister of Home Affairs. Originally the Minist ...

(ACC) in June 2014, he assumed the office of Secretary on 16 June 2014, and demitted it on 31 August 2015.

Economic Affairs Secretary

Das was appointed Union Economic Affairs Secretary by the ACC in August 2014, he assumed the office of Secretary on 31 August 2015, and admitted it and simultaneously superannuated from service on 28 May 2017, after being given a three-monthextension by the government. During his tenure as Union Economic Affairs Secretary, Das was widely regarded as one of the most powerful civil servants in India.

Finance Commission

Post his retirement from the IAS, Das was appointed a member of the FifteenthFinance Commission by the ACC. In addition, he was appointed as India's Sherpa to the G20 by the ACC. In December 2018, on his appointment as the governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Das resigned from his position in the FifteenthFinance Commission.

Governor of Reserve Bank of India

Das was appointed Governor of the Reserve Bank of India by the ACC on 11 December 2018 for a period of threeyears, replacing

Urjit Patel Urjit Patel (born 28 October 1963) is an Indian economist, who formerly served as the 24th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and also Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India, looking after monetary policy, economic research, financial m ...

who had resigned the day before. Das' appointment as RBI governor received mostly positive responses, with

DBS Bank DBS Bank Limited, often known as DBS, is a Singaporean multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at the Marina Bay Financial Centre in the Marina Bay district of Singapore. The bank was previously known as The Dev ...

's head of markets for India at Singapore, Ashish Vaidya, saying that previous governors of the RBI with an IAS background, such as Y. Venugopal Reddy and

Duvvuri Subbarao Duvvuri Subbarao (born 11 August 1949) is an Indian economist, Central Banker, and retired IAS officer. He was the 22nd Governor of Reserve Bank of India, served under Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. After stepping down from RBI, he was a Dist ...

, had been successful and that Das' "cordial relations with the government .. ouldlikely help policy negotiations." S. S. Mundra, a former deputy governor of the RBI, said Das was a "good and balanced choice" for RBI governorship and had "a good understanding of the whole of the financial sector both from the ministry and also in his interactions with the RBI." A former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India C. Rangarajan, said Das had "experience in economic affairs" and would "make a good governor". Gaurav Shah, a senior vice president at Geojit Financial Services, said "a name like Shaktikanta Das carries track record, experience, credentials, credibility and respect along with him." On the other hand, Nobel laureate and professor at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...

Abhijit Banerjee Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee (; born 21 February 1961) is an Indian-American economist who is currently the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Banerjee shared the 2019 Nobel Memorial Priz ...

, said Das' appointment posed a lot of "frightening" questions on governance of autonomous public institutions.

Subramanian Swamy Subramanian Swamy (born 15 September 1939) is an Indian politician, economist and statistician. Before joining politics, he was a professor of Mathematical Economics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He is known for his Hindu n ...

, a member of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...

, the largest party of the ruling

National Democratic Alliance National Democratic Alliance (NDA) () is a centre-right to right-wing and conservative Indian big tent political alliance led by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It was founded in 1998 and currently controls the government of In ...

coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

, and a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha (Council of the States), criticised Das, calling him a "corrupt person" at an event at the Indian School of Business in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

. Das assumed charge as RBI governor on 12 December 2018. Reactions of the markets to Das' appointment was positive, with

BSE SENSEX The BSE SENSEX (also known as the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index or simply SENSEX) is a free-float market-weighted stock market index of 30 well-established and financially sound companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The 30 ...

gaining 629points and

NIFTY 50 The NIFTY 50 is a benchmark Indian stock market index that represents the weighted average of 50 of the largest Indian companies listed on the National Stock Exchange. It is one of the two main stock indices used in India, the other being th ...

increasing by 188points. As RBI governor, Das serves as the ''ex-officio'' chairperson of the

Monetary Policy Committee Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) may refer to: * Monetary Policy Committee (India) The Monetary Policy Committee is responsible for fixing the benchmark interest rate in India. The meetings of the Monetary Policy Committee are held at least fo ...

of the central bank. He was conferred the 'Central Banker of the Year, Asia-Pacific 2020' award by the

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

based magazine-

The Banker ''The Banker'' is an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication owned by ''The Financial Times'' Ltd. and edited in London, United Kingdom. The magazine was first published in January 1926 through founding Editor, Bren ...

for his efforts to make the banking system more robust.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Das, Shaktikanta Indian Administrative Service officers 1957 births Living people People from Bhubaneswar Governors of the Reserve Bank of India Indian diplomats St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni