Urjit Patel Family
Former RBI Governor Urjit Patel was born in Nairobi on 28 October 1963 to Manjula and Ravindra Patel. His grandfather had migrated from Mahudha village in Kheda district, Gujarat to Kenya in the 20th century. His parents run Raxo Products Ltd, a chemical factory in Nairobi.
Urjit Patel Education
He studied at Gujarati community run Visa Oswal Primary School and later at Jamhuri High School in Nairobi.
Urjit Patel earned Bachelor of Science in Economics from London School of Economics, Master of Philosophy in Economics from Linacre College, Oxford in 1986.
He later earned Doctor of Philosophy in Economics from Yale University in 1990. He was at IMF India desk during the 1991–94 transition period.
Urjit Patel Wife
He was married in the mid-90s to Vibha Joshi, and the couple divorced in 2003.
Urjit Patel Biography
After obtaining his Ph.D., Patel joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1990. He worked on the USA, India, Bahamas and Myanmar desks at IMF till 1995.
Thereafter he went on deputation from the IMF to the Reserve Bank of India. He played an advisory role in the development of the debt market, banking sector reforms, pension fund reforms, targeting of real exchange rate.
After the two-year deputation with RBI, Patel became a Consultant to the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs – a position he held from 1998 to 2001
Urjit Patel Committee
Between 2000 and 2004, Patel worked with several High-Level Committees at both Central and State Government level including Competition Commission of India, Task Force on Direct Taxes, Prime Minister’s Task Force on Infrastructure, Group of Ministers on Telecom Matters, Advisory Committee on Research Projects and Market Studies, Committee on Civil Aviation Reforms, Expert Group on State Electricity Boards and High-Level Expert Group on Civil and Defence Services Pension System.
Prior to his appointment as the Deputy Governor at RBI in 2013. Patel was an advisor (Energy and Infrastructure) with Boston Consulting Group, while he has also worked with Reliance Industries in the past.
On 11 January 2013, Patel was appointed as Deputy Governor of RBI for a period of three years. He took over charge of the vital Monetary Policy Department, succeeding Subir Gokarn to the post.
As the Deputy Governor of RBI from 2013, he looked after monetary policy, economic policy research, statistics and information management, deposit insurance, communication and Right to Information
Urjit Patel Governor
On 20 August 2016, he was appointed as the governor of Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) succeeding Raghuram Rajan.
During his tenure, the Government of India demonetised the ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes of the Mahatma Gandhi Series, with the stated intention of curbing corruption, black money, fake currency and terrorism from 9 November 2016.
Urjit Patel Resignation
On 10 December 2018 at 17:15 hrs IST, Urjit Patel resigned from the post of Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) effective immediately.
He resigned from his post on 10 December 2018 citing personal reasons. He is the first governor after 1990s to resign from his post before his terms ends on September 2019.