P. C. Bhattacharya

Who is P. C. Bhattacharya?

P. C. Bhattacharya was the seventh Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1 March 1962 to 30 June 1967. Unlike his predecessors he was a member of the Indian Audits and Accounts Service. He served as Secretary in the Finance Ministry and later as Chairman of the State Bank of India before his appointment as the Governor.

As RBI Governor he strongly opposed the nationalising of private banks in India, by writing a letter to then Deputy Prime Minister Morarji Desai warning about the costs of nationalising the banks saying it was not desirable. During his tenure the size of the currency notes od denomination 5, 10 and 100 were reduced in size for economic reasons.

Bhattacharya's tenure saw the establishment of the Industrial Development Bank of India in 1964, the Agricultural Refinance Corporation in 1963 and the Unit Trust of India in 1964.