Reserve Bank of India recently got its 24th Governor in form of Urjit Patel. Urjit Patel is certainly not new to Reserve Bank of India. Urjit has served RBI as Deputy Governor for 2013-2016 stints.
The fact that Urjit saw Raghuram Rajan—the former RBI Governor—work on reforms closely and him holding the office of Deputy Governor made it logical for the Government of India to appoint him as the new RBI Governor.
A lot of reputed and popular personalities were in race for becoming the 24th RBI Governor but Urjit’s experience helped him wipe all of them out of contest.
While holding the office of Deputy RBI Governor, Urjit looked into the matters of Monetary Policy, Communication and Right to Information and Deposit Insurance.
Early life: The Making of India’s 24th RBI Governor
Urjit Patel went to London School of Economics for Bachelor’s and later did his M. Phil from Oxford University. He did his M. Phil from Oxford University in 1986 and completed his Doctorate from Yale University in 1990. Urjit joined IMF in 1991 and was there till 1994 in transition. During transition period, Urjit was allotted to work on Indian desk and later he was transferred to India on IMF Country Mission.
2000-2004: Urjit was a fresh graduated with high-level authority experience from IMF. His advisory role at RBI powered by IMF made him the eye-candy of every private and public firm in India. Banks wanted to have Urjit Patel work for them but then Urjit was meant to play much more important roles.
During the stint of 2000-2004 in India, Urjit Patel worked with varied high-level committees at Central and State Level Governments. Some of the roles and positions he handled are listed:
- Task force on Direct Taxes
- Prime Minister’s Task Force on Infrastructure
- Group of Ministers of Telecom Matters
- Expert group on State Electricity Board
- Expert Group on Defense Services Pension System
It was in 2013, when Urjit Patel was named the Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India.
According to RBI, Urjit Patel took over the RBI’s Governor Office from Raghuram Rajan on 5th September 2016. Raghuram Rajan resigned on 4th September only to go back to USA and work in field of education.
Urjit Patel is certainly someone, who works from behind the curtains; when announced as the successor of Raghuram Rajan, Urjit Patel become the talk of the town before this there were only one or two instances when this gentle man was mentioned in the mainstream media.
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Other Important Positions Urjit Patel has held across his life
Urjit Patel is a man who can handle almost every other position in IMF and RBI; let’s have a look at the other political and gazette roles he has handled over the time:
- President for Business Development at Reliance Industries
- Non-Executive Director at Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation
- Non-Executive Director at Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited
- Advisor, Boston Consulting Group
Sources: Wikipedia
Well, Governor of Reserve Bank of India is the final milestone in the extra-ordinary journey of Urjit Patel.
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