# Shaktikanta Das

Shaktikanta Das (born 26 February 1957) is an Indian bureaucrat who served as the 25th governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Since February 2025, he has been serving as the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. Das is a retired 1980 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre.He was earlier a member of the Fifteenth Finance Commission and India's Sherpa to the G20.
During his career as an IAS officer, Das served in various capacities for Central and Tamil Nadu State governments, including as Economic Affairs Secretary, Revenue Secretary, Fertilizers Secretary. He has also served as India’s Alternate Governor in the World Bank, ADB, NDB & AIIB. He has represented India in various international forums like the IMF, G20, BRICS, SAARC, etc.

## Early life and education

Born in Bhubaneswar, Das attended the Demonstration Multipurpose School, Bhubaneswar.and then obtained a bachelor's (BA) and a master's degrees (MA) in History from the St. Stephen's College, Delhi. 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. In recognition of his contributions to public administration, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) by Utkal University in 2021.

## Indian Administrative Services career

Das served in various positions for both the Government of India and the Government of Tamil Nadu, including as Principal Secretary (Industries), Special Commissioner (Revenue), Secretary (Revenue), Secretary Commercial Taxes, the project director of Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society and as the district magistrate and collector of Dindigul and Kancheepuram districts 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 and as a joint secretary in the Department of Expenditure of the Ministry of Finance in the Indian government.
Das also had a stint with Mahindra Industrial Park Ltd (Mahindra World City), on deputation to a private sector company under Rule 6(2)(ii) of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) (Cadre) Rules, 1954.

### Revenue Secretary

Das was appointed Union Revenue Secretary by the Prime Minister-led-Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) in June 2014. He assumed the office of Secretary on 16 June 2014 and demitted it on 31 August 2015.

### 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-month extension 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 Fifteenth Finance Commission by the ACC. In addition, he was appointed as India's Sherpa to the G20 by the ACC. In December 2018, on his appointment as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Das resigned from his position in the Fifteenth Finance Commission.

## Governor of the Reserve Bank of India

Das was appointed Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) by the ACC on 11 December 2018 for a period of three years, replacing Urjit Patel 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'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 and Duvvuri Subbarao, had been successful and that Das' "cordial relations with the government [...] [would] 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 Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, C. Rangarajan, said Das had "experience in economic affairs" and would "make a good governor". Gaurav Shah, a senior vice president at Geojit Financial Services, said "a name like Shaktikanta Das carries track record, experience, credentials, credibility and respect along with him."
On the other hand, Nobel laureate and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Abhijit Banerjee, said Das' appointment posed a lot of "frightening" questions on governance of autonomous public institutions. Subramanian Swamy, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the largest party of the ruling National Democratic Alliance coalition, 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 in Hyderabad.
Das assumed charge as RBI governor on 12 December 2018. Reactions of the markets to Das' appointment was positive, with BSE SENSEX gaining 629 points and NIFTY 50 increasing by 188 points.
As RBI governor, Das serves as the ex-officio chairperson of the Monetary Policy Committee of the central bank. He was conferred the 'Central Banker of the Year, Asia-Pacific 2020' award by the London based magazine-The Banker 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, Narendra Modi. He is serving alongside Pramod Kumar Mishra, who was appointed in 2019, as the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.