S. Venkitaramanan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 18th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India | |
| In office 22 December 1990 – 21 December 1992 | |
| Preceded by | R. N. Malhotra |
| Succeeded by | C. Rangarajan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sri Venkitaramanan (1931-01-28)28 January 1931 |
| Died | 18 November 2023(2023-11-18) (aged 92) |
| Alma mater | |
Sri Venkitaramanan (28 January 1931 – 18 November 2023) was an Indiancivil servant andeconomist who served as the 18thgovernor of the Reserve Bank of India between 1990 and 1992, where he oversaw India's actions to tide over thebalance of payments crisis. His actions were noted to have helped the country out of the crisis when itsforeign-exchange reserves had almost depleted and helped usher in the country'seconomic liberalisation programme in the early 1990s.[1][2]
He earlier served as thefinance secretary in India'sMinistry of Finance, from 1985 to 1989.[3][4]
Venkitaramanan was born on 28 January 1931 in the town ofNagercoil in Padmanathapuram division of the princely-state ofTravancore, into a Tamil Iyer family.[5][6]
Venkitaramanan completed his master's degree in physics fromUniversity College Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala,[7] and also obtained a master's degree in Industrial Administration fromCarnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, US.[8]
Venkitaramanan was a member of theIndian Administrative Service.[9] He was posted with the Government of India and with the state ofTamilnadu at various times. He also served the Government ofKarnataka as adviser.[10] In the late 1960s, he served as theprivate secretary to Indian politician and food minister,Chidambaram Subramaniam, while ushering inIndia's green revolution.[11][12]
Venkitaramanan served as Finance Secretary in theMinistry of Finance with theGovernment of India for four years from 1985 to 1989, under theRajiv Gandhi government.[8] He briefly served as an advisor to theGovernment of Karnataka when the state was underPresident's rule. He later served as the 18thGovernor of the Reserve Bank of India for two years between 1990 and 1992.[13][11] At the time of his appointment as RBI Governor, India was in the midst of abalance of payments crisis, with fast-depleting foreign exchange reserves.[13] It is noted that while he had no economics training, he was selected for this position given his familiarity with the balance of payments situation.[14] His actions as the Governor were noted to have contributed to India's tiding over the crisis.[2][1][13] Specifically, during this time, the country adopted theInternational Monetary Fund's stabilization program and started on itseconomic liberalization program, includingdevaluation of theIndian rupee.[11] During this time, he partnered with the then finance minister,Manmohan Singh, in implementing some of the reforms and also engaged with international multilateral agencies and other central banks towards raising foreign exchange for the country.[14]
He was also the RBI Governor during1992 Indian stock market scam also sometimes referred to as theHarshad Mehta scam, after the principal accused. The incident was called a failure of the country's securities markets.[14]
After retirement, Venkitaramanan served as the Chairman of Ashok Leyland Investment Services Ltd., New Tirupur Area Development Corporation Ltd. and Ashok Leyland Finance Ltd.[8] He also served in the boards of Reliance Industries Limited, SPIC, Piramal Healthcare Ltd, Tamil Nadu Water Investment Co. Ltd and Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd.[8]
Venkitaramanan was married and had two daughters. One of his daughters, Girija Vaidyanathan, was a 1981 Tamil Nadu cadreIndian Administrative Service officer who served as theChief Secretary ofTamil Nadu.[15]
Venkitaramanan died on 18 November 2023, at the age of 92.[16][17]
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