Govt extends RBI dy governor Sinha's term till Jan 2014

He is the architect of new banking licence guidelines RBI

The government has extended the term of Anand Sinha, one of the four deputy governors of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), to January 18, 2014. Sinha (62), was scheduled to retire on February 28. Sinha will be the first deputy governor to serve RBI beyond the age of 62. Traditionally, a deputy governor is appointed for a period of five years or till the age of 62, whichever is earlier.

“According to a notification issued by the Government of India dated February 25, Sinha will continue as the deputy governor, RBI, until January 18, 2014, when he completes the tenure of three years from the date on which he assumed office, that is, January 19, 2011,” RBI said in a press release on Tuesday. Sinha, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, has served the central bank for four decades.

The move comes after RBI Governor D Subbarao requested the finance ministry to extend Sinha’s tenure by a year. Sinha, architect of the recently-released bank licence norms, will help vet the application of bank aspirants and granting of licences. Last week, RBI had said though an external committee would be appointed to vet the applications and advise RBI, the central bank would take a final call on whom to issue the licence.

He will continue to look after the department of banking operations and development, department of non-banking supervision, urban banks department and the departments of risk monitoring, information technology, expenditure and budgetary control, legal and premises.