NEW DELHI: After resigning in December 2018, nine months ahead of his tenure, former RBI governor Urjit Patel has decided to join as chairman National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Finance. Patel will start his four-year term beginning June 22, succeeding Vijay Kelkar.
NIPFP’s governing body includes three representatives of the finance ministry, one each from the Planning Commission and the Reserve Bank of India and three representatives of sponsoring state governments.
Patel was handpicked by the Modi government in September 2016 to replace Raghuram Rajan as the RBI governor but his differences with finance ministry increased over sharing of revenue surplus with the government.
The spat became public and ugly, forcing Patel’s deputy Viral Acharya opening up with government’s intervention in the central bank’s autonomy which ultimately led to the exit of both Patel and Acharya.
Against this backdrop, the development is interesting as rumours are rife in the finance ministry that Patel has finally mend his fences with the government and is ready to take up other roles in the government.