List of governors of the Reserve Bank of India

The governor of the Reserve Bank of India is the chief executive officer of India's central bank and the ex-officio chair of its Central Board of Directors. The Governor of RBI by convention to be considered as equivalent to Minister of State. Indian Rupee currency notes, issued by the Reserve Bank of India, bear the governor's signature. Since its establishment in 1935, the RBI has been headed by twenty-sixgovernors. The governor is a member of the Strategic Policy Group headed by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. It is a crucial wing of the National Security Council.
The inaugural officeholder was the Australian banker Sir Osborne Smith, while Sir C. D. Deshmukh was the first native Indian governor. Sir Benegal Rama Rau was the longest-serving governor, Holding office for over seven years. while Amitav Ghosh's 20-day term is the shortest. The bank's fifteenthgovernor, Manmohan Singh, later became India's thirteenth prime minister. Sanjay Malhotra is the twenty-sixth governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 11 December 2024.

List of governors

#	Portrait	Name	Term	Length of tenure	Notes	Ref
1		Osborne Smith	1 April 1935 — 30 June 1937		Smith was an Australian banker who served as the managing governor of the Imperial Bank of India before becoming the governor. He resigned the governorship before the completion of the term.
2		James Braid Taylor	1 July 1937 — 17 February 1943		Taylor was an ICS officer who served as the controller of the currency and the deputy governor of the RBI. He died while in office.
3		C. D. Deshmukh	11 August 1943 — 30 June 1949		Deshmukh was an ICS officer who served as the deputy governor of the RBI. He was the first Indian to serve as the governor. His governorship oversaw the partition of India as the subsequent division of assets and liabilities between India and Pakistan.
4		Benegal Rama Rau	1 July 1949 — 14 January 1957		Rau was an ICS officer who served as the ambassador to the United States. He resigned the governorship before the completion of his second extended term.
5		K. G. Ambegaonkar	14 January 1957 — 28 February 1957		Ambegaokar was an ICS officer who served as the Finance Secretary before becoming the deputy governor of RBI. He was appointed as the interim governor upon the resignation of Benegal Rama Rau.
6		H. V. R. Iengar	1 March 1957 — 28 February 1962		Iyengar was an ICS officer who served as the chairman of the State Bank of India. Indian coinage was shifted to decimal coinage during his governorship.
7		P. C. Bhattacharya	1 March 1962 — 30 June 1967		Bhattacharya was an Indian Audit and Accounts Service officer who served as the chairman of the State Bank of India before becoming the governor.
8		Lakshmi Kant Jha	1 July 1967 — 3 May 1970		Jha was an ICS officer who served as the secretary to the prime minister before becoming the governor. He left the office upon his appointment as the ambassador to the United States.
9		B. N. Adarkar	4 May 1970 — 15 June 1970		Adarkar was an economist who served as the economic advisor to the government before becoming the deputy governor of RBI. He was appointed as the interim governor.
10		S. Jagannathan	16 June 1970 — 19 May 1975		Jagannathan was an ICS officer who served as India's Executive Director of the World Bank before becoming the governor. He resigned the office to become the India's Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund.
11		N. C. Sen Gupta	19 May 1975 — 19 August 1975		Gupta served as the Secretary to the Department of Banking before becoming the interim governor.
12		K. R. Puri	20 August 1975 — 2 May 1977		Puri served as the chairman of the Life Insurance Corporation before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw the formation of various regional rural banks.
13		M. Narasimham	3 May 1977 — 30 November 1977		Narasimham was a RBI research officer who served as an Additional Secretary to the Department of Economic Affairs before becoming the governor.
14		I. G. Patel	1 December 1977 — 15 September 1982		Patel was an economist who served as a Secretary in the Ministry of Finance before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw the demonetization of ₹5,000 and ₹10,000 value currency.
15		Manmohan Singh	16 September 1982 — 14 January 1985		Singh is an economist who served as the Finance Secretary before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw various legal reforms related to the banking sector.
16		Amitav Ghosh	15 January 1985 — 4 February 1985		Ghosh was the deputy governor of RBI who was appointed as the interim governor until R. N. Malhotra assumed the office.
17		R. N. Malhotra	4 February 1985 — 22 December 1990		Malhotra was an Indian Administrative Services officer who served as Executive Director of the IMF before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw the inauguration of Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research.
18		S. Venkitaramanan	22 December 1990 — 21 December 1992		Venkitaramanan was an IAS officer who served as the Finance Secretary before becoming the governor. India adopted IMF's stabilization program during his governorship.
19		C. Rangarajan	22 December 1992 — 21 November 1997		Rangarajan is an economist who served as the deputy governor of RBI before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw the establishment of unified exchange rate.
20		Bimal Jalan	22 November 1997 — 6 September 2003		Jalan is an economist who served at various positions including being the chief economic adviser to the government and serving as the Finance Secretary before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw less inflation and interest rates.
21		Y. V. Reddy	6 September 2003 — 5 September 2008		Reddy is an IAS officer who served as the deputy governor of RBI before becoming the governor. During his governorship, he contributed in the financial sector reforms and external commercial borrowings.
22		D. Subbarao	5 September 2008 — 4 September 2013		Subbarao is an IAS officer who served as the Finance Secretary before becoming the governor. He wrote on various issues including decentralization and public finance.
23		Raghuram Rajan	4 September 2013 — 4 September 2016		Rajan is an economist who served as the chief economic advisor to the government and the IMF Economic Counsellors\|chief economist of IMF] before becoming the governor.
24		Urjit Patel	4 September 2016 — 10 December 2018		Patel is an economist who worked with the IMF and the central government. He served as the deputy governor of RBI before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw the demonetization of ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes. He later resigned citing personal reasons.
25		Shaktikanta Das	12 December 2018 — 11 December 2024		Das was an IAS officer who served as the Revenue Secretary and later Economic Affairs Secretary. He served as a Member of the 15th Finance Commission before becoming the governor.
26		Sanjay Malhotra	11 December 2024 — Incumbent		Malhotra is an IAS officer who served as the Financial Services Secretary and later Revenue Secretary before becoming the governor.