The official order said "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Shaktikanta Das, former Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, as Govertnor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a period of three years."
Das' appointment comes at a time when the government and the RBI are engaged in a tussle over several issues including transfer of the central bank's reserves, over which Patel had reservations after the government hinted at forcing him using provisions of the RBI Act.
In a development that came as an embarrassment for the government, Patel resigned on Monday citing "personal reasons" even as his various predecessors hinted that the decision was rooted in the recent controversy involving the government and the central bank.
His resignation came against the backdrop of the ongoing tiff between the government and the central bank over the liquidity and credit crunch in the economy that provoked an extraordinary meeting of the RBI board on November 19. Patel, 54, quit the post about nine months before his three-year term was to come to an end in September 2019.
Who is Shaktikanta Das
• Shaktikanta Das is a retired 1980-batch IAS officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre
• The 63-year old Indian economist had served as the deputy governor for three years
• He was a member of the 15th Finance Commission of India and India's Sherpa to G20
• He holds a master's degree from St. Stephen's College
• He earlier served as Joint Secretary in the Expenditure Department of the Finance Ministry
• Das retired as the Economic Affairs Secretary in May 2017
• Das’s appointment came a day after Urjit Patel put down his papers as the RBI chief citing personal reasons