Mumbai: There are seven candidates on a long list to replace Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan, a senior government official said on Saturday.
The candidates are Vijay Kelkar, Rakesh Mohan, Ashok Lahiri, Urjit Patel, Arundhati Bhattacharya, Subir Gokarn and Ashok Chawla, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Of the field, the two best known are Patel, now a deputy governor of the RBI, and Bhattacharya, who is chair of State Bank of India (SBI.NS), the country's largest bank.
The others are veterans of the RBI, the Indian civil service or the two major global financial bodies, the International Monetary Fund or World Bank.
Read: Rajan was ‘open’ to 2nd term, decision to exit after ‘consultation with govt’
Two finance ministry officials, Shaktikanta Das and Arvind Subramanian, who market participants had previously speculated might be candidates are not on the long list, the official said.
In a letter to RBI staff, Rajan said he planned to return to academia, even as he noted two of his actions - the creation of a monetary policy committee to set interest rates and the clean-up of the heavily indebted banking sector - remained unfinished.
"While I was open to seeing these developments through, on due reflection, and after consultation with the government, I want to share with you that I will be returning to academia when my term as Governor ends on September 4, 2016," Rajan wrote.
Read: Rajan did 'extraordinary job' as RBI chief: Infosys CEO Sikka
"I will, of course, always be available to serve my country when needed."
It will be the first time since 1992 that an RBI governor has departed after a single three-year term.
