Who is Shaktikanta Das, the new RBI Governor who replaced Urjit Patel?

Ending all the speculation over who will be the Reserve Bank of India Governor after Urjit Patel put in his paper yesterday, the PM Narendra Modi led NDA government appointed Shaktikanta Das, a retired 1980 batch Tamil Nadu cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor.

He was member of the Fifteenth Finance Commission of India, and India's Sherpa to G20 after his retirement in 2017. He served in various capacities in central and Tamil Nadu governments.  Shaktikanta Das has worked as Economic Affairs Secretary of India, Revenue Secretary of India and Fertilizers Secretary of India. 

Das, 61, had been widely seen as a contender for the top job at the RBI after the exit of former governor Raghuram Rajan in 2016. He also worked as special secretary in Department of Economic Affairs and joint secretary in the Department of Expenditure of the Ministry of Finance.

Here is the Zee Business tweet:

#ZBizImpact | ज़ी बिज़नेस की खबर पर लगी मुहर..10 दिसंबर को ही #ZeeBusiness ने बताया था #ShaktikantaDas होंगे नए RBI गवर्नर।#NewRBIGovernor @AnilSinghviZEE @SwatiKJain pic.twitter.com/VsfQU89daj

— Zee Business (@ZeeBusiness) December 11, 2018

Shaktikanta Das assumed the post of Union Economic Affairs Secretary in August 2016 and held the post till his retirement from service on May 28, 2017. His appointment to the post is expected to help in improve the RBI-government relationship which in recent times went sour. 

 Das was involved in drafting Insolvency and Bankruptcy code, aimed at protecting small investors. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Shaktikanta Das has been appointed as the Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a period of three years, Ministry of Finance tweeted.

Earlier, the Narendra Modi government had accepted the resignation of Urjit Patel who resigned yesterday from the said post. Das was a key backer of Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s demonetisation scheme under which the government scrapped high denomination currency notes from circulation.

Das did his graduation (BA) and post graduation (MA) in History from St Stephen's College in Delhi.