The government has named Anand Mahindra, Ravindra Dholakia, Venu Srinivasan and Pankaj Patel to RBI’s board, according to a circular issued by the central bank on Tuesday.
These appointments will be for a period of four years. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet gave its nod to these appointments.
The Reserve Bank’s affairs are governed by a central board of directors. The board is appointed by the Government of India in keeping with the Reserve Bank of India Act
Mahindra is the chairman of the Mumbai-headquartered multinational conglomerate Mahindra Group. Mahindra was awarded Padma Bhushan, the country’s third-highest civilian honour, in January 2020.
Dholakia is an ex-IIM Ahmedabad professor. Srinivasan is chairman emeritus, TVS Motor Company.
Patel is chairman of Zydus Lifesciences. He is already on the board of Invest India, a member of the Mission Steering Group under the National Health Mission, Drug Technical Advisory Board under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
The central bank in its last MPC meeting decided to raise the repo rate by 50 basis points to 4.90%. Consequently, the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) adjusted to 4.65% and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) and bank rate to 5.15%.
The panel also voted unanimously for ‘withdrawal of accommodation’ in view of high inflation. The RBI will take calibrated, focussed steps to bring down inflation to MPC’s comfort band of 2-6%, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das added.
“We are facing new challenges with every passing day due to the war. War in Europe is lingering, accentuating the supply chain problems. Recovery is gaining momentun despite the pandemic and war. On the other hand inflation has become global,” Das said during this address.
