Shaktikanta Das, face of DeMo, named RBI Guv

New Delhi, December 11

The government today cleared the name of former Finance Secretary Shaktikanta Das as the new Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the post that fell vacant after Urjit Patel’s abrupt resignation yesterday.

Das is a 1980-batch Tamil Nadu cadre retired IAS officer, who is currently a member of the 15th Finance Commission led by former bureaucrat NK Singh.

He shot into spotlight in late 2016 by becoming the bureaucratic face of demonetisation in the weeks following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s televised note-ban announcement. At present, he also represents India at the G-20 in a role of a sherpa.

The notification said: “The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Shaktikanta Das as Governor, RBI, for a period of three years.”

Initially, Modi brought in Das to head the revenue department in the Finance Ministry before moving him to economic affairs, where he helped lead the charge on demonetisation in late 2016.

Das was the Economic Affairs Secretary till May 2017. In the weeks after demonetisation, he became a familiar face during press conferences where he pushed the government’s line that the note-ban would curb black economy, counterfeit money, besides spurring digital transactions. — TNS