Paresh Chandra Bhattacharya OBE (born 1 March 1903) was the seventh Governor of the

Reserve Bank of India Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is the central bank of the Republic of India, and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system and Indian rupee, Indian currency. Owned by the Ministry of Finance (India), Min ...

from 1 March 1962 to 30 June 1967. Unlike his predecessors he was a member of the Indian Audits and Accounts Service (IA&AS). He was appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the 1946 New Year Honours. He served as Secretary in the

Finance Ministry A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

and later as Chairman of State Bank of India before his appointment as the Governor. As RBI Governor he strongly opposed the nationalising of private banks in India,The Congress Split
Accidental India: A History of the Nation's Passage through Crisis and Change By Shankkar Aiyar by writing a letter to the then Deputy Prime Minister

Morarji Desai Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (29 February 1896 – 10 April 1995) was an Indian politician and Indian independence activist, independence activist who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India between 1977 and 1979 leading th ...

warning about the costs of nationalising the banks saying it was not desirable. During his tenure the size of the currency notes of denomination 5, 10 and 100 were reduced in size for economic reasons. Bhattacharya's tenure saw the establishment of the Industrial Development Bank of India in 1964, the Agricultural Refinance Corporation in 1963 and the Unit Trust of India in 1964. The banknotes signed by P C Bhattacharya have very high resale value in the grey market because of their rarity. A 10 rupee note signed by Bhattacharya fetches 800 to 1000 rupees today. During his tenure as Governor of RBI, the size of the bank notes of Rs 5, 10 and 100 denominations had been reduced to cut cost of production, which make these notes relatively rare in the collectors market.

References

Governors of the Reserve Bank of India Indian bankers Indian civil servants Officers of the Order of the British Empire 1903 births University of Calcutta alumni 1969 deaths Place of birth missing Place of death missing {{WestBengal-politician-stub