Reserve Bank of India, completes 75 Years, celebrates the year 2009-10 as its Platinum Jubilee Year

The Reserve Bank of India, established on April 1, 1934 celebrates the year 2009-2010 as its Platinum Jubilee Year.

The question of a central banking institution for India had been under examination both by Royal Commissions and by the Legislature long before the Hilton-Young Commission recommended in 1926 that India’s financial structure should be completed by the creation of a central bank. The report of the Chamberlain Commission of 1914 included a comprehensive memorandum by John Maynard Keynes, one of its members, proposing that the three Presidency Banks should be merged into one central bank. This led to a legislation, introduced in January 1927, to set up the Reserve Bank of India. However, it was not until seven years later, in March 1934, that the enactment came through.

The Reserve Bank of India was first established as a shareholders’ bank. Subsequently, it was nationalized in 1949. As India became independent in 1947, RBI's 'tryst with nation building' ran parallel to the nation's 'tryst with destiny'. The year 1949 also marked the enactment of the Banking Regulation Act which mandated a comprehensive and formal structure of bank regulation and supervision in India.

With India emerging as a key player in the global growth story, RBI’s role and responsibilities too have increasingly acquired an international dimension. Today RBI is an active participant in several important international institutions that seek to promote more effective regulatory structures and financial and systemic stability. RBI is now shareholders of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and member of the Committee on Global Financial System, the Markets Committee, and the International Liaison Group under the aegis of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), and are now becoming active members of the Financial Stability Forum and the BCBS.

“Our goal must be to make a difference to the life of every Indian, every day,” said Dr. D Subbarao, Governor, Reserve Bank of India in his message on April 2, 2009 to all RBI employees on the occasion of the beginning of the Reserve Bank of India’s Platinum Jubilee Celebrations.



The RBI Governor also released a special logo on the occasion. The logo uses colours of the national flag indicating the strong linkage that the Reserve Bank has with the country's economy. The logo also has Mahatma Gandhi in it taken from the currency note which is the link between the Reserve Bank and the common person. In sum, the logo represents the continuation of the Reserve Bank's commitment to be a more responsive, relevant, professional and effective public policy institution. The logo will be used throughout the Platinum Jubilee year in all RBI communication.

RBI will soon announce a detailed plan for marking its Platinum Jubilee...Read More about RBI

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