Sanjay Malhotra appointed new RBI Governor as Shaktikanta Das’ term ends

New Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra: Sanjay Malhotra, a 1990-batch Indian Administrative Service officer, currently serving as Revenue Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, has been appointed the next Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Monday gave its nod for the selection of 56-year-old Malhotra as the 26th RBI Governor with effect from December 11 for a period of three years amid a close contest that had other prominent names also in the running.

Chief Economic Advisor, Economic Affairs Secretary, and RBI Deputy Governor were seen as the other contenders for the post, amid speculation about a possible extension to the outgoing RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. The second term of the current RBI Governor Das is slated to end on December 10.

While Malhotra’s appointment came as a surprise to many, those who have known him as a bureaucrat backed his professionalism and intellectual acumen that he brought to his role in North Block.

Malhotra has been known for his analytical skills within the Finance Ministry circle in his role as Revenue Secretary and also earlier as the Secretary, Department of Financial Services.

One of the trusted aides of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Malhotra was known to bring his insights on discussions around the revenue trends. He has also been vocal about the overreach of tax officers, asking them to refrain from hurting the business sentiment in their pursuit of revenue targets.

“We are here not only for revenue, but also for the whole economy of the country. So, if in the process of garnering some small revenue, we are hurting the whole industry, or the economy of the county, it is certainly not the intent. Revenue comes in only when there is some income, therefore, we have to be very cautious so that we do not, as they say, kill the golden goose,” he said last week at an event organised by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

As the ex-officio secretary of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, Malhotra’s mild-mannered conduct, especially during the disagreements between states and Centre in the Council’s proceedings, were often appreciated by the ministers.

A BTech in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Kanpur in 1989, Malhotra later pursued his Masters in Public Policy from Princeton University. During his earlier years as a young IAS officer (1996-1998), Malhotra served as District Collector and District Magistrate in Chittorgarh.

Later in his posting with the central government, Malhotra worked as additional secretary, Ministry of Power (2020-21).

He then joined as the chairman and managing director of Rural Electrification Corporation, following which he was appointed the Financial Services Secretary from February-October 2022. After that, Malhotra was appointed Revenue Secretary.

A Rajasthan-cadre officer, Malhotra comes with over three-decades of experience working in the areas of power, finance and taxation, information technology, and mines.

As principal secretary, in-charge of the energy department in Rajasthan, Malhotra was seen to be instrumental in appointing distribution franchisees in four towns, introduction of public-private partnership (PPP) in transmission and innovations in metering, billing, and collection.

As additional secretary in the Ministry of Power, he dealt with transmission, distribution, reforms, and restructuring, and was involved in reforms, policy initiatives, and privatisation of distribution utilities of Union Territories.