Urjit Patel is the current governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) who took over from Raghuram Rajan on 4 September 2016. C. D. Deshmukh was the first Indian governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is India's central banking institution, which controls the monetary policy of the Indian rupee. It commenced its operations on 1 April 1935 during the British Rule in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.