**Bhubaneswar:** Former finance secretary Shaktikanta Das has been appointed the new governor of Reserve Bank of India. The RBI had been rendered headless after Urjit Patel resigned on Monday, with immediate effect.
Odisha-born Das, will take over as the 25th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India for a period of three years, the government said in an announcement this evening.
“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Shri Shaktikanta Das, IAS Retd., former Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, as Governor, Reserve Bank of India for a period of three years,” said a government statement.
Das is a retired 1980 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Tamil Nadu cadre. He was member of the Fifteenth Finance Commission of India, and India’s Sherpa to G20.
During his career as an IAS officer, he served in various capacities for Indian and Tamil Nadu governments, including as Economic Affairs Secretary of India, Revenue Secretary of India, Fertilizers Secretary of India.
Patel, who is the first governor since 1990 to step down before his term ended, in a brief statement, cited “personal reasons” for the decision. Patel’s three-year term was to end in September 2019.
