RBI appoints S Somanath, reappoints Anand Mahindra to its board

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that it has reappointed Mahindra Group chair Anand Mahindra, and appointed former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chair S Somanath to its board.

In the announcements made on Thursday, RBI stated: “The Central Government has appointed Shri Somanath Sreedhara Panicker as part-time, Non-official Director on the Central Board of Reserve Bank of India for a period of four years with effect from August 20, 2026 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.”

It said in a separate statement that Anand Mahindra has also been appointed as part-time, non-official director to the board for a period of four years with effect from August 20.

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Currently, the board has a strength of 11 members including Governor Sanjay Malhotra, deputy governors Swaminathan J, Poonam Gupta, Shirish Chandra Murmu, and Rohit Jain, along with the newly appointed Anand Mahindra and S Somanath with former Deputy Comptroller & Auditor General - Government Accounts Revathy Iyer, Director General at think tank Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS)  Professor Sachin Chaturvedi, Anuradha Thakur and former secretary Sanjay Lohiya.

RBI BOARD

The apex bank’s affairs are governed by this central board of directors, appointed by the government, in keeping with the RBI Act. These members are appointed or nominated for a period of four years.

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The board includes the official directors that include the governor and not more than four deputy governors, as well as non-official directors that include individuals nominated by the government from various fields and two government officials, or others from local boards.