Former ISRO Chairman S. Somanath was
appointed as a part-time, non-official director on the Central Board of the
Reserve Bank of India
¨
Former ISRO Chairman S.
Somanath was appointed as a part-time, non-official director on the Central
Board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 20 August 2026.
¨
His appointment is for a
four-year term.
¨
Anand Gopal Mahindra was
also reappointed to the RBI Central Board for another four-year term on the
same date.
¨
The Central Board of
Directors is the apex decision-making body of the RBI under the Reserve Bank of
India Act, 1934.
¨
The RBI Central Board
consists of official directors, non-official directors and government nominees.
¨
The Board is responsible
for the general supervision and functioning of the central bank.
¨
S. Somanath served as the
10th Chairman of ISRO and Secretary of the Department of Space.
¨
He served in these
positions from 15 January 2022 to 14 January 2025.
¨
He retired from ISRO in
January 2025 after a tenure that included the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
¨
Chandrayaan-3
successfully achieved a soft landing near the lunar south pole on 23 August
2023.
¨
On 20 August 2026, the
total strength of the RBI Central Board was reduced from 15 members to 11
members.
¨
Following the
restructuring, the listed external directors included Revathy Iyer, Sachin
Chaturvedi, Anand Mahindra, S. Somanath, Anuradha Thakur and Sanjay Lohiya.
¨
S. Somanath’s appointment
brings expertise from the space and science sector to the RBI’s apex board.
