Gopalkrishna, Gandhi in race for RBI Dy Governor Feb 2013

Two senior most executive directors of RBI - 

G.Gopalakrishna and R Gandhi, are in the race for the 

post of deputy governor that will fall vacant after the present incumbent Anand Sinha retires in February; 2013. Although RBI has recommended further extension of Sinha, the government is unlikely to accept this.

Saikat Das
moneycontrol.com

Two senior most executive directors of the Reserve Bank of India- G Gopalakrishna and R Gandhi-are in the race for the post of deputy governor that will fall vacant after the Anand Sinha retires in February; 2013. Although the central bank has recommended an extension for Sinha , the government is unlikely to accept this, sources said.

"Those two executive directors are the potential candidates for the post of deputy governor. Extension for Sinha remains a remote possibility as he will turn 62 next February. The government will have to set a new precedent if it extends his tenure beyond the age. It is unlikely," a senior RBI official told moneycontrol.com on condition of anonymity.

A deputy governor, as per norms, can be appointed till the age of 62 or for a period of five years, whichever is earlier.  G. Gopalakrishna will be retiring in March, 2016 while R Gandhi will hang his boots most probably in November, the same year. Both of them qualify the set rules to assume the post of a deputy governor.

Currently, Gopalakrishna is looking after four departments including department of banking supervision, financial stability unit, department of communication (DoC) and secretary's department. Gandhi's portfolio includes departments like internal debt management (IDM), human resource management, external investments and operations as well as central security cell.

Recently, Dr K C Chakraborty got an extension of two years as deputy governor till his age of 62. Chakraborty was appointed as deputy governor in June 2009 and his term ends on June 2014.

Earlier, Shyamala Gopinath, a former deputy governor who retired on June 20, 2011 had obtained an extension at the Mint Road office in Mumbai. She was appointed as deputy governor on September 20, 2004. Besides, governors and deputy governors, the retirement age in RBI is at 60.

Anand Sinha who was appointed in 2011, has been dealing with the critical issue of new banking license. He is supervising it under the department of banking operations and development (DBOD). As a part of reform measures, the government is reportedly working closely with RBI to introduce new banking license. RBI has already brought out draft guidelines for the same.