Who was the first Governor of the Reserve Bank of India?

Sir Osborne Arkell Smith was an Australian banker who had worked with the Bank of New South Wales and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Before joining the RBI, he was the Managing Governor of the Imperial Bank of India. He became the first Governor of the Reserve Bank of India when it was set up on 1 April 1935, and served until 30 June 1937. He resigned before completing his term, reportedly because of differences with the British government over issues such as interest rates and exchange rate policy.

His signature did not appear on any Indian currency notes, because the RBI began issuing its own notes only in 1938, after he had left. The first RBI notes, of ₹5 denomination, issued in January 1938, carried the portrait of King George VI and the signature of the second Governor, Sir James Taylor.

Some notable Governors of the RBI:

Sir James Braid Taylor (1937-43): the second Governor; he died in office.

C.D. Deshmukh (1943-49): the first Indian Governor. He later became India's Finance Minister (1950-56).

Benegal Rama Rau (1949-57): the longest-serving Governor, for about seven and a half years.

Manmohan Singh (1982-85): later Finance Minister and Prime Minister of India; he is the only Prime Minister whose signature appears on currency notes.

Raghuram Rajan (2013-16): introduced inflation targeting and the Asset Quality Review of banks.

Urjit Patel (2016-18): Governor at the time of demonetisation (November 2016).

Shaktikanta Das (2018-24).

Sanjay Malhotra (since December 2024): the 26th Governor.

The Governor is appointed by the Central Government, usually for three years, and can be reappointed. The RBI also has up to four Deputy Governors.

Why not the other options?

C.D. Deshmukh was the first Indian Governor (1943).

Sir James Taylor was the second Governor; his signature was on the first RBI notes.

Benegal Rama Rau was the longest-serving Governor.