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Shaktikanta Das, who is a former Reserve Bank of India Governor, was appointed Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Shaktikanta Das served as the 25th governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 2018 to 2024. (Source: PTI)
Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das was appointed Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. With this announcement, his career was further elevated to a new height.
This will be the first time there will be two principal secretaries to the prime minister with PK Mishra already holding one of the positions since 2019.
Who Is Shaktikanta Das?
67-year-old Shaktikanta Das is a 1980-batch IAS officer who completed his term as RBI’s governor last December after it was extended in 2021.
Das earlier held the positions of revenue secretary and economic affairs secretary in the government before he was appointed as the RBI governor in 2018.
Shaktikanta Das was born in Odisha ‘s Bhubaneswar on February 26, 1957. He completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in history from St Stephen’s College in Delhi.
Das, who is a former IAS officer of the 1980-batch Tamil Nadu cadre, had earlier worked for the Tamil Nadu government as well as the central government.
As an RBI Governor for six years, Das steered the economy of India through turbulent phases which included geopolitical tensions, high inflation and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Das was ranked among the top three central bankers for two consecutive years by Global Finance magazine and was also awarded an ‘A+’ rating in its 2024 Central Banker Report Cards.
He was reappointed because of his effective management in controlling inflation and facing challenging monetary conditions and his term was extended for an additional three years in 2021.
During his last four years as RBI governor, Das played a major role in managing an economic growth rate of over 7%.
He also played a pivotal role in leading the demonetisation initiative under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016.
Das had earlier served as the Secretary for both the Department of Economic Affairs and the Department of Revenue.
After he retired, Das was appointed as a Member of the 15th Finance Commission and he took over the role of India’s G20 Sherpa.
While working in the Ministry of Finance, Das played an active role in preparing the eight Union Budgets.
He also represented India as its Alternate Governor at various international financial institutions like the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank, the New Development Bank (NDB), and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
He also became the face of India at various global forums like the IMF, G20, BRICS, and SAARC.
