Shaktikanta Das (born 26 February 1957) is a retired

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

bureaucrat A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government. The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", wh ...

and IAS officer who served as the 25th

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

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 ...

. Since February 2025, he has been serving as the

Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India The Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India (PS to the PM; ISO: ''Bhārat Ke Pradhānmantrī Ke Pradhān Saciv'') is the administrative head of the Prime Minister's Office. The officeholder is generally a retired civil servant, mostl ...

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

. Das is a retired 1980batch

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...

(IAS) officer of the

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

cadre. He was earlier a member of the FifteenthFinance Commission and India's

Sherpa SHERPA (Securing a Hybrid Environment for Research Preservation and Access) is an organisation originally set up in 2002 to run and manage the SHERPA Project. History SHERPA began as an endeavour to support the establishment of a number of open ...

to the

G20 The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 sovereign countries, the European Union (EU), and the African Union (AU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stabil ...

. During his career as an IAS officer, Das served in various capacities for Central and

Tamil Nadu State Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost state of India. The tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population, Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, who speak the Tamil language—the state's official language an ...

governments, including as Economic Affairs Secretary, Revenue Secretary, Fertilizers Secretary. He has also served as India’s Alternate Governor in the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, ADB,

NDB NDB may refer to: Finance * National development bank, set up by a country's government to improve that country's economy * New Development Bank, a development bank jointly operated by the BRICS nations * NDB Bank, Sri Lankan commercial bank Pol ...

& AIIB. He has represented India in various international forums like the

IMF The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of la ...

BRICS BRICS is an intergovernmental organization comprising ten countriesBrazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. The idea of a BRICS-like group can be traced back to Russian foreign ...

SAARC The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, ...

, etc.

Early life and education

Born in

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra ...

, Das attended the

Demonstration Multipurpose School, Bhubaneswar The Demonstration Multipurpose School (DMS) of Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, can trace its roots back to 1964, and is one of the oldest schools in Bhubaneswar. It is a co-educational school, administered by the NCERT. It serves about 1500 pupils ...

. and then obtained a

bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ( ...

( BA) and a

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

degrees ( MA) in

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

from the St. Stephen's College, Delhi of

Delhi University The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

. He also completed a course in Financial Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, and received mid-career training from the

Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM Ahmedabad or IIM-A), is a business school, located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It is one of the Indian Institutes of Management and was accorded the status of an Institute of National Impor ...

. In recognition of his contributions to public administration, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters (

D.Litt. Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

) by

Utkal University Utkal University (UU) is a public university in Bhubaneswar, Khordha, Odisha, and is the oldest university in the state, and the 17th-oldest university in India. The university was established in 1943 and was operating from Ravenshaw College ...

in 2021.

Indian Administrative Services career

Das served in various positions for both the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

and the

Government of Tamil Nadu The Government of Tamil Nadu () is the administrative body responsible for the governance of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the capital of the state and houses the state executive, legislature and head of judiciary. Under the Const ...

, including as

Principal Secretary Principal may refer to: Title or rank * Principal (academia), the chief executive of a university ** Principal (education), the head of a school * Principal (civil service) or principal officer, the senior management level in the UK Civil Servi ...

( Industries), Special Commissioner (

Revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of product (business), goods and services related to the primary operations of a business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some compan ...

), Secretary (Revenue), Secretary Commercial Taxes, the project director of Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society and as the district magistrate and collector of

Dindigul Dindigul (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is a city in the India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Dindigul district. Dindigul City is Located in the Southwest Region of Tamil Nadu. Dindigul is an ancient settlement r ...

and

Kancheepuram Kanchipuram (IAST: '; ), also known as Kanjeevaram, is a stand alone city corporation, satellite nodal city of Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from Chennaithe capital of Tamil Nadu. Known as the ''Ci ...

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

in the Tamil Nadu government. Das has also served as the Union Economic Affairs Secretary, Union Revenue Secretary, Union Fertilizers Secretary, Special secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs of the

Ministry of Finance 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 portfoli ...

and as a joint secretary in the Department of Expenditure of the

in the Indian government. Das also had a stint with Mahindra Industrial Park Ltd (

Mahindra World City Mahindra World City (MWC) is part of the USD 19.4 billion Mahindra Group, which is active in diverse markets including automotive, farm equipment, defense, hospitality, manufacturing, aerospace, retail, finance, real estate, and infrastructure. The ...

), on deputation to a private sector company under Rule6(2)(ii) of the

(IAS) (Cadre) Rules, 1954.

Revenue Secretary

Das was appointed Union Revenue Secretary by the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

-led-

Appointments Committee of the Cabinet The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) is a high-level committee within the Government of India responsible for appointing senior officials to key positions in the central government and public sector undertakings.

Economic Affairs Secretary

Das was appointed Union Economic Affairs Secretary by the ACC in August 2014, he assumed the office of Secretary on 31 August 2015, and admitted it and simultaneously superannuated from service on 28 May 2017, after being given a three-monthextension by the government. During his tenure as Union Economic Affairs Secretary, Das was widely regarded as one of the most powerful civil servants in India.

Finance Commission

After his retirement from the IAS, Das was appointed a member of the FifteenthFinance Commission by the ACC. In addition, he was appointed as India's

to the

by the ACC. In December 2018, on his appointment as the

Governor of the Reserve Bank of India The governor of the Reserve Bank of India is the chief executive officer of India's central bank and the ''ex-officio'' chair of its Central Board of Directors. Initially it was below the cabinet secretary rank but currently it an equivalent ra ...

, Das resigned from his position in the Fifteenth

Finance Commission The Finance Commissions (IAST: ''Vitta Jayga'') are commissions periodically constituted by the President of India under ''Article 280'' of the Indian Constitution to define the financial relations between the central government of India and ...

Governor of the Reserve Bank of India

Das was appointed Governor of the

(RBI) by the ACC on 11 December 2018 for a period of threeyears, replacing

Urjit Patel Urjit Patel (born 28 October 1963) is a Kenyan-born Indian economist, who formerly served as the 24th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and also Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India, looking after monetary policy, economic research, ...

who had resigned the day before. Das received an extension in December 2021 for a period of three years. Das' appointment as RBI governor received mostly positive responses, with

DBS Bank DBS Bank Limited is a Singaporean multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at the Marina Bay Financial Centre in the Marina Bay district of Singapore. The bank was previously known as The Development Bank of Si ...

's head of markets for India at Singapore, Ashish Vaidya, saying that previous governors of the RBI with an IAS background, such as

Y. Venugopal Reddy Yaga Venugopal Reddy (born 17 August 1941) is an Indian economist and a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1964 batch belonging to Andhra Pradesh cadre. Reddy served as governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India ...

and

Duvvuri Subbarao Duvvuri Subbarao (born 11 August 1949) is an Indian economist, central banker and retired IAS officer. He served as the 22nd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from September 2008 to September 2013, with an extension in 2011, unde ...

, had been successful and that Das' "cordial relations with the government ..

ould Ould is an English surname as well as an element of many Arabic names. In Arabic contexts it is a transliteration of the word wikt:ولد, ولد, meaning "son". Notable people with this surname include: English surname * Edward Ould (1852–190 ...

likely help policy negotiations." S. S. Mundra, a former deputy governor of the RBI, said Das was a "good and balanced choice" for RBI governorship and had "a good understanding of the whole of the financial sector both from the ministry and also in his interactions with the RBI." A former

C. Rangarajan Chakravarthi Rangarajan (born 1932) is an Indian economist, a former Member of Parliament and 19th governor of the Reserve Bank of India. He is the former chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council; he resigned the day the UPA ...

, said Das had "experience in economic affairs" and would "make a good governor". Gaurav Shah, a senior vice president at

Geojit Financial Services Geojit Financial Services Ltd. is an investment services company in India headquartered in Kochi, Kerala. It operates a network of offices across India and the Middle East. Geojit was the first company in India to launch online-trading facilitie ...

, said "a name like Shaktikanta Das carries track record, experience, credentials, credibility and respect along with him." On the other hand,

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

and professor at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

Abhijit Banerjee Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee (; born 21 February 1961) is an Indian American economist who is currently the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is co-founder and co-director of the ...

, said Das' appointment posed a lot of "frightening" questions on governance of autonomous public institutions.

Subramanian Swamy Subramanian Swamy (born 15 September 1939) is an Indian politician, economist and statistician. Before joining politics, he was a professor of Mathematical Economics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He is known for his Hindu ...

, a member of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

, the largest party of the ruling

National Democratic Alliance The National Democratic Alliance (NDA; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Rāṣṭrīya Lokatāntrik Gaṭhabandhan'') is an Indian big tent Political group, multi-party political alliance, led by the country's biggest political party, the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

, and a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha (Council of the States), criticised Das, calling him a "corrupt person" at an event at the

Indian School of Business The Indian School of Business (ISB) is a private business school with campuses in Hyderabad and Mohali, India. It offers various post-graduate management programs. History The Indian School of Business (ISB) was started in 1996 by a bunch of b ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

Das assumed charge as RBI governor on 12 December 2018. Reactions of the markets to Das' appointment was positive, with

BSE SENSEX The BSE SENSEX (also known as the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index or simply SENSEX) is a free-float market-weighted stock market index of 30 well-established and financially sound companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The 30 ...

gaining 629points and

NIFTY 50 The NIFTY 50 is an Indian stock market index that represents the Capitalization-weighted index#Free-float weighting, float-weighted average of 50 of the largest Indian companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India, National Stock E ...

increasing by 188points. As RBI governor, Das serves as the ''ex-officio'' chairperson of the

Monetary Policy Committee The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is a committee of the Bank of England, which meets for three and a half days, eight times a year, to decide the official interest rate in the United Kingdom (the Bank of England Base Rate). It is also respo ...

of the central bank. He was conferred the 'Central Banker of the Year, Asia-Pacific 2020' award by the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

based magazine-

The Banker ''The Banker'' is an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication owned by '' The Financial Times'' and edited in London, United Kingdom. The magazine was first published in January 1926 through founding editor Brendan ...

for his efforts to make the banking system more robust.Das was honoured with the title of 'Governor of the Year 2023' by the London-based financial journal Central Banking. He was rated “A+” in the Global Finance Central Banker Report Cards 2023 and 2024 consecutively. Das was placed at the top of the list of three central bank governors who have been rated A+.

Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India

In February 2025, Das was appointed as the Principal Secretary - 2 to the Prime Minister of India,

. He is serving alongside Pramod Kumar Mishra, who was appointed in 2019, as the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Das, Shaktikanta Indian Administrative Service officers 1957 births Living people People from Bhubaneswar Governors of the Reserve Bank of India Diplomats for India St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni