RBI board meets today with new worries emerging over its independence

India’s central bank board will meet on Friday with much of the hostility of the past two months with the government having eased, and new worries emerging about the institution’s independence.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a new ally at the Reserve Bank of India in Governor Shaktikanta Das, who may be more amenable to the government’s requests to ease lending restrictions on state-run banks and hand over more of its capital to the state. Das, 61, took office two days after Urjit Patel abruptly resigned as governor on Monday.

The 18-member board, which includes monetary policy makers, finance ministry representatives and