Two IAS Officers With Odisha Links In Race To Succeed RBI Guv Shaktikanta Das

New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: The Centre is expected to announce its decision on the new Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor on Monday with the term of incumbent Shaktikanta Das’ three-year extended term coming to an end on December 10.

Though reports earlier suggested that he’s likely to receive a third term, there has been no indication from the government so far in this regard.

During the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) press conference on Friday, Das also dodged questions about the possibility of a tenure extension. “I am not giving you any headlines,” came a curtly reply from the RBI Governor to a query.

Extensions for previous RBI governors have typically been communicated well in advance. Das was informed weeks before his three-year extension in 2021. Similarly, Bimal Jalan was informed four months in advance and D Subbarao a month prior to the end of his tenure.

Meanwhile, names of several candidates for the post are doing the rounds in Delhi’s power corridors. His possible successors include Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General Anand Mohan Bajaj, a 1990-batch officer of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service; Chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India Debashish Panda, a 1987-batch retired IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre; and Secretary in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation Saurabh Garg, a 1991-batch IAS officer of the Odisha cadre, the TNIE reported.

Like Das, Panda also hails from Bhubaneswar. He served as Joint Secretary, Health & Family Welfare, Additional Secretary and as Special Secretary, Financial Services.

In May, the government announced his full-time appointment of Garg as MoSPI Secretary along with a one-year term beyond his superannuation in July this year. He had earlier served as Chief Executive Officer, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Principal Secretary for Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment in Odisha, where he worked on digitalizing agriculture and developing a direct income transfer scheme for farmers — KALIA or Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation.

DEA Secretary Ajay Seth, CEA Anantha Nageswaran, and a current RBI deputy governor are reportedly also being considered for the post, according to CNBCTV18.

However, there is no official confirmation on any of these.

Bureaucrat-turned-central banker Das was appointed the 25th RBI Governor on December 12, 2018, after the abrupt exit of Urjit Patel. The three-year extension in 2021 made him the second-longest-serving RBI governor after Benegal Rama Rau, who held the position for seven and a half years in the 1950s. While Jalan and RN Malhotra also received extensions, both chose to step down early.