Finance commission member Shaktikanta Das has been appointed RBI governor for a period of three years. As the economic affairs secretary 2015 and 2017, Das spearheaded the government’s demonetisation drive and was instrumental in pushing the Goods and Services Tax reform. Das, who is believed to be close to PM Narendra Modi, replaces Urjit Patel, who resigned on Monday after a prolonged tussle with the government on issues ranging from problems at lenders to utilisation of capital reserves.

Shaktikanta Das (born 26 February 1957) is a retired 1980 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Tamil Nadu cadre. Currently serving as the 25th governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), he was earlier a member of the Fifteenth Finance Commission of India and India's Sherpa to the G20. During his career as an IAS officer, Das served in various capacities for Indian and Tamil Nadu governments, including as Economic Affairs Secretary of India, Revenue Secretary of India, Fertilizers Secretary of India.