C. Rangarajan
Chakravarthi Rangarajan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1932 Vaduvur, near Thanjavur, India |
| Occupation(s) | Economist, parliamentarian, academic |
| Known for | 19th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council |
Chakravarthi Rangarajan (born 1932) is a distinguished Indian economist, former parliamentarian, and served as the 19th governor of the Reserve Bank of India. He held the position of chairman for the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council and stepped down following the defeat of the UPA. Rangarajan currently chairs the Madras School of Economics and has previously been president of the Indian Statistical Institute, founding chairperson of the CR Rao Advanced Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, chancellor at the University of Hyderabad, and a faculty member at Ahmedabad University.
Early life
Between 1947 and 1949, Rangarajan attended National College (Tiruchirappalli) before completing his commerce degree at Loyola College, affiliated with the University of Madras. During this period, he was a peer of Yale economist T N Srinivasan. He obtained his doctorate in economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1964, presenting a dissertation entitled "Variability of Demand Deposits." His origins trace back to Vaduvur, a village close to Thanjavur.
Career
Rangarajan’s academic tenure included teaching economics at both the University of Pennsylvania and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), where his textbook on macroeconomics gained widespread adoption across business education programs. In recognition, he was appointed Honorary Fellow at IIM-A in 1997.
His central banking career involved serving as deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1982 until 1991, followed by his governorship from December 1992 through December 1997. Afterwards, he was appointed governor of Andhra Pradesh from November 1997 to January 2003, concurrently managing additional gubernatorial responsibilities for Odisha (1998–1999) and Tamil Nadu (2001–2002). Subsequently, he led the Twelfth Finance Commission as its chairman.
In 2002, Rangarajan was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian honor. The Academy of Grassroots Studies and Research of India (AGRASRI) also recognized him with the Rajiv Gandhi Outstanding Leadership National Award in 2008.
From 2005 to 2008, he chaired the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council but resigned in August 2008 upon entering the Rajya Sabha. After stepping down from Parliament in August 2009, he resumed chairmanship of the Economic Advisory Council until May 2014. Since then, he has been at the helm of the Madras School of Economics, actively influencing economic policymaking.
In May 2020, Rangarajan led a Tamil Nadu government panel tasked with advising on economic recovery strategies following COVID-19 disruptions. The group advocated for an urban employment guarantee scheme and forecasted a return to pre-pandemic economic conditions within two months.
External links
- 20th-century Indian economists
- Tamil scholars
- Governors of the Reserve Bank of India
- Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in literature & education
- Indian bankers
- Governors of Andhra Pradesh
- Governors of Odisha
- Governors of Tamil Nadu
- Living people
- Academic staff of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
- 1932 births
- Loyola College, Chennai alumni
- University of Pennsylvania alumni
- Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha
- University of Madras alumni
- National College, Tiruchirappalli alumni
- Reserve Bank of India