Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra has been appointed as the 26th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a term of three years effective from December 13.
With demonstrated leadership and excellence in his career of over 33 years, Malhotra has worked in multifarious sectors including power, finance and taxation, information technology, mines etc. Presently he is Secretary (Revenue) in Ministry of Finance. In his previous assignment, he held the post of Secretary in Department of Financial Services under the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
He has extensive experience in finance and taxation at the state as well as the Union government. As a part of his present assignment, he plays an instrumental role in tax policy formulation in respect of direct and indirect taxes.
Sanjay Malhotra is an Indian Administrative Service Officer of 1990 Batch Rajasthan Cadre. He is an Engineering Graduate in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and has a Master's in Public Policy from the Princeton University, USA.
As the new RBI Governor, Malhotra will face the dual challenge of managing inflation and ensuring stable economic growth.
His earlier tenure as Chairman and Managing Director of state-run REC Ltd saw the company through significant growth phases.
As Revenue Secretary since December 2022, Malhotra has played a crucial role in formulating tax policies for both direct and indirect taxes. His leadership has been instrumental in driving buoyant tax collections, a vital factor for India’s fiscal health.
Malhotra also served as the ex-officio Secretary to the GST Council, the body responsible for managing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) framework in India. His role required balancing the sometimes conflicting fiscal expectations of states while maintaining the integrity of the national tax system.
Malhotra will succeed Shaktikanta Das, who was touted to be given an extension as the central bank governor for a third term, extending his leadership until December 2026. Das, whose current term is due to end on December 10, has already been the RBI’s governor for longer than the usual five-year maximum of recent decades (since the 1960s).
Das was recently named the top central banker by Global Finance for the second consecutive year in 2024, with an A+ rating for his leadership in guiding the RBI through challenging economic times.