The first Governor of the Reserve Bank of India was:

Sir Osborne Arkell Smith was the first Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, serving from 1 April 1935 to 30 June 1937.

About Sir Osborne Smith:

• He was an Australian banker who had worked for the Bank of New South Wales and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
• He was the Managing Governor of the Imperial Bank of India before joining the RBI.
• He resigned before completing his term because of differences with the government on issues such as interest rates and exchange rates.

Establishment of the RBI:

• The RBI was set up on 1 April 1935 under the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
• It was set up on the recommendations of the Hilton Young Commission (Royal Commission on Indian Currency and Finance, 1926).
• It was originally a privately owned shareholders' bank.
• It was nationalised on 1 January 1949.

Early Governors:

• Sir Osborne Smith (1935 to 1937): first Governor.
• Sir James Braid Taylor (1937 to 1943): second Governor; he oversaw the RBI during the early years of the Second World War.

C.D. Deshmukh (1943 to 1949): first Indian Governor.

Benegal Rama Rau (1949 to 1957): longest-serving Governor.

Signature on notes:

The first banknote issued by the RBI in January 1938 was a five-rupee note bearing the portrait of King George VI, signed by Sir James Taylor.

Notable later Governors:

• Manmohan Singh (1982 to 1985), who later became Prime Minister.
• Raghuram Rajan (2013 to 2016).
• Shaktikanta Das (2018 to 2024).
• Sanjay Malhotra became Governor in December 2024.

Central office:

The RBI's central office was moved from Calcutta to Bombay in 1937.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Sir James Taylor was the second Governor.

C.D. Deshmukh was the first Indian Governor.

Benegal Rama Rau was the fourth Governor.