Those who know Sanjay Malhotra and his acumen were betting him to be the future cabinet secretary.
But then the challenging economic landscape, which demands a balance between fostering innovation, ensuring financial stability, and steering the economy through global uncertainties and domestic reforms, government had little choice to put one of its brightest officer on task.
Sanjay Malhotra, a 1990 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre, currently serving as revenue secretary in the ministry of finance, still had little more than three years left. But government decided to appoint him as the next Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for three years from December 11, 2024.
The second term of current RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das is slated to end on December 10.
Sanjay Malhotra is a trusted aide of finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and is known to maintain a delicate balance between governance and growth.
“We are here not only for revenue but also for the whole economy of the country. So, if in the process of garnering some small revenue, we are hurting the whole industry, or the economy of the county, it is certainly not the intent. Revenue comes in only when there is some income, therefore, we have to be very cautious so that we do not, as they say, kill the golden goose,” he said last week at an event organised by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
A B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Kanpur in 1989, Malhotra is known for his analytical skills within the Finance Ministry in his role as Revenue Secretary and also earlier as the Secretary, Department of Financial Services.
Malhotra known for strict financial management and power reforms
A Rajasthan cadre officer, Malhotra comes with over three-decades of experience in the areas of power, finance and taxation, information technology and mines. As Principal Secretary, in-charge of Energy Department in Rajasthan, Malhotra was seen to be instrumental in appointment of distribution franchisees in four towns, introduction of PPP in transmission and innovations in metering, billing and collection. As Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Power, he dealt with transmission, distribution, reforms and restructuring and was involved in reforms, policy initiatives and privatisation of distribution utilities of union territories.
Prakash Bhandari is a veteran journalist with over 50 years of experience. He has worked with The Times of India for 30 years and contributed to leading publications as well as international news agency AFP.
