Urjit Patel is an Indian economist, who served as the 24thGovernor of the Reserve Bank of India from 4 September 2016 to 10 December 2018. Previously, as an RBI deputy governor, he looked after monetary policy, economic policy research, statistics and information management, deposit insurance, communication and Right to Information. Appointed by the NDA government, Patel succeeded Raghuram Rajan as RBI governor on 4 September 2016. He resigned from his post on 10 December 2018, being the first RBI governor to state personal reasons as a driving factor for resigning. He is the fifth RBI governor to have resigned from his post before his term ended in September 2019, and had the shortest tenure since 1992.
After obtaining his Ph.D., Patel joined the International Monetary Fund in 1990, where he worked on the US, India, Bahamas and Myanmar desks till 1995. Thereafter he went on deputation from the IMF to the Reserve Bank of India, where he played an advisory role in the development of the debt market, banking sector reforms, pension fund reforms, and targeting of real exchange rate. After the two-year deputation with RBI, Patel became a Consultant to the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs, holding the position from 1998 to 2001. He also served on the board of the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation in 2006-07. Between 2000 and 2004, Patel worked with several High-Level Committees at both Central and State Government levels:
High-Level Expert Group on Civil and Defence Services Pension System
Prior to his appointment as the Deputy Governor at RBI in 2013, Patel was an advisor with the Boston Consulting Group, and he has also worked with Reliance Industries in the past. On 11 January 2013, Patel was appointed as Deputy Governor of RBI for a period of three years. He took over charge of the vital Monetary Policy Department, succeeding Subir Gokarn to the post. As the Deputy Governor of RBI from 2013, he looked after monetary policy, economic policy research, statistics and information management, deposit insurance, communication and Right to Information. On 20 August 2016, he was appointed as the governor of Reserve Bank Of India succeeding Raghuram Rajan. During his tenure, the Government of India demonetised the ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series, with the stated intention of curbing corruption, black money, fake currency and terrorism from 9 November 2016. On 10 December 2018 at 17:15 hrs IST, Urjit Patel resigned from the post of Governor of the Reserve Bank of India effective immediately.
Controversies
Although Patel cited personal reasons for resigning from RBI, experts have opined that he was forced to exit because of serious differences with the Government of India. The latter wanted more money from RBI to fund its fiscal deficit, which Patel did not agree to, citing requirement for long term financial stability. In August 2019 Nitin Gadkari fueled the controversy when he stated that he had advised the Union Finance Minister to "throw out" the RBI Governor because the latter was inflexible and adamant. Raghuram Rajan, the ex-RBI Governor has also stated that Urjit Patel's resignation was a "note of protest".
