IG Patel dead
18 Jul 2005
Patel
had served as the governor of RBI from December 1977 to
September 1982. He had joined the central bank after working
with UNDP for a period of five years (1972-77).
"His tenure witnessed the demonetisation of high
denomination notes as well as the ''gold auctions'' conducted
by RBI on behalf of the government of India.
During his tenure six private sector banks were nationalised,
targets for priority sector lending introduced, and the
Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporations were
merged, and a departmental re-organisation was undertaken
in RBI.
He played an active role in availing of the IMF''s Extended
Fund Facility in 1981 due to balance of payments difficulties.
This represented the largest arrangement in IMF''s history
at the time,'' the RBI website says of his innings.
Patel was succeeded as RBI governor by Manmohan Singh.
When PV Narasimha Rao came to power in 1991, it was rumoured
that Patel was his first choice as the country''s finance
minister. Eventually, it was Singh who got the coveted
job.
After studying economics in the United Kingdom and the
United States, Patel returned to India in the early-1950s
and worked with various governments on key economic policies.
He
had also written critically acclaimed books like Glimpses
of Indian Economic Policy, An Insider''s View and
An Encounter With Higher Education: My Years at LSE.