Sanjay Malhotra. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra on Tuesday (December 10, 2024) said he will work to understand all perspectives and do what is best for the economy after he takes charge as the RBI Governor on December 11.

Watch | Who is Sanjay Malhotra, the next RBI chief?

Responding to reporters’ queries outside the Finance Ministry, Mr. Malhotra said, “One has to understand the turf, all perspectives and do what’s best for the economy.”

Mr. Malhotra, 56, who is currently the Revenue Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, was on Monday (December 9, 2024) evening named by the government to succeed Shaktikanta Das as the governor of the central bank.

A 1990-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, Mr. Malhotra, has more than three decades of experience in public policy with expertise in areas like power, finance, and taxation.

He takes guard at a time when the Indian economy is faced with the dual challenge of slowing growth rate and high inflation.

While Mr. Das kept benchmark interest rates unchanged for almost two years in a bid to control inflation, the incoming Governor is said to be a team player who believes prices cannot be managed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) alone and the task needs government help as well.

He takes over as the 26th governor of the RBI at a time when it is under pressure to cut interest rates to support growth.

The GDP growth slowed to a seven-quarter low of 5.4% in the July-September period while the inflation accelerated to a 14-month high of 6.21% in October.

The government-mandated inflation target for the RBI is 4 per cent, plus or minus two percentage points.

Sanjay Malhotra will be the 26th RBI Governor. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Sanjay Malhotra will replace Shaktikanta Das as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and his appointment, for three years, will take effect on December 11, 2024. Mr. Malhotra will be the 26th RBI Governor.

A 1990-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, Mr. Malhotra was the Revenue Secretary to the Government of India. Prior to that, he was working as an officer on special duty (OSD) in the revenue department since October 2022.

Before working as an OSD, he served as the Department of Financial Services (DFS) secretary.

In his career of over 33 years, he has worked in multifarious sectors, including power, finance and taxation, information technology, and mines, among others.

He has extensive experience in finance and taxation at the State as well as the central government levels. As a part of his present assignment, he plays an instrumental role in tax policy formulation in respect of direct and indirect taxes.

Mr. Malhotra is an IIT-Kanpur alumnus and holds a master’s degree in public policy from Princeton University, U.S.

(With inputs from PTI)