There are several names doing the rounds as possible successors to Reserve Bank governor Raghuram Rajan, who made it clear on Saturday that he would not stay for a second term.
There are several names doing the rounds as possible successors to Reserve Bank governor Raghuram Rajan, who made it clear on Saturday that he would not stay for a second term. The frontrunner, according to government circles in New Delhi, is Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya, who is a protégé of eminent economist Jagdish Bhagwati. “While Mr Panagariya is a professor of economics at Columbia University (in the US), as vice-chairman of Niti Aayog he has gained experience on how the Indian government works and knows the thinking of the Narendra Modi government and what trajectory it wants to take,” a source in the finance ministry said. Mr Panagariya is known to be in favour of lowering interest rates and had often voiced this, the latest being in January. Mr Panagariya had earlier co-authored a book India’s Tryst with Destiny with Mr Bhagwati, that had praised the Gujarat growth model.
It is, however, felt in some quarters that Dr Rajan’s successor is more likely to be a person who would be acceptable to the Sangh Parivar if recent government appointments to the National Institute of Fashion Technology and Film and Television Institute of India are any indication.
If the government wants a name from within the RBI it might well be RBI deputy governor Urjit Patel, but there is a lot of scepticism on whether this name would be acceptable to the Sangh Parivar, sources said, as he is also seen as an inflation hawk. Some other names doing the rounds include that of chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian, former RBI deputy governor Rakesh Mohan, who was miffed as he was earlier in the running for the post but was overlooked and took up an assignment abroad. The names of former CAG Vinod Rai and economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das, former finance secretary Vijay Kelkar, former CCI chairman Ashok Chawla, former CEA Ashok Lahiri and former RBI deputy governor Subir Gokarn are in the hat. The name of current State Bank of India chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya is also being heard in this context.
