NEW DELHI: Former Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das has been appointed as the Principal Secretary-2 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
His selection was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, with an order to this effect issued by the Department of Personnel Training (DoPT) on Saturday. With his appointment, he joins P K Mishra, who has been the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister since September 11, 2019.
A 1972-batch IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre, Dr Mishra has been at the helm of affairs in the Prime Minister’s Office for the last 10 years—first, as the Additional Principal Secretary to the PM during 2014-19, and then as his Principal Secretary from September 2019 onward. He shares a special rapport with PM Modi, with whom he has worked in various capacities, since his days in Gujarat.
As per the order, Das’s appointment will be “co-terminus with the term of the Prime Minister or until further orders, whichever is earlier.”
Das is a postgraduate from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, and has worked as a civil servant for more than four decades, serving as the Secretary, Department of Revenue and Department of Economic Affairs; member, 15th Finance Commission and the G20 Sherpa of India.
He was appointed as the 25th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India effective December 12, 2018 and served till December, last year. He has also served as India’s Alternate Governor in World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), New Development Bank (NDB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Das has represented India in international forums like the IMF, G20, BRICS, SAARC, etc.
In his six years as the central bank chief, he faced many challenges, including global economic uncertainties like the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Russia-Ukraine war. He has also acted as India’s G20 Sherpa and been a member of the 15th Finance Commission.
As RBI Governor, Das was ranked among the top three central bankers globally for two consecutive years by the US-based magazine Global Finance. Das received an ‘A+’ rating in the Global Finance Central Banker Report Cards 2024.
In his last press conference, Das had said that restoring inflation-growth balance was the most important task ahead of the RBI.
Agencies