Reserve Bank of India

            Reserve Bank of India is also known as India's Central Bank. It was established on 1st April 1935. Although the bank was initially owned privately, it has been taken up the Government of India ever since, it was nationalized.


            The central bank was founded in 1935 to respond to economic troubles after the first world war. The Reserve Bank of India was set up on the recommendations of the Hilton Young Commission. The commission submitted its report in the year 1926, though the bank was not set up for another nine years. The Preamble of the Reserve Bank of India describes the basic functions of the Reserve Bank as to regulate the issue of bank notes, to keep reserves with a view to securing monetary stability in India and generally to operate the currency and credit system in the best interests of the country.


           The Central Office of the Reserve Bank was initially established in Kolkata, Bengal, but was permanently moved to Mumbai in 1937. The Central Office is where the Governor sits and where policies are formulated. The Reserve Bank continued to act as the central bank for Myanmar till Japanese occupation of Burma and later up to April 1947, though Burma seceded from the Indian Union in 1937. After partition, the Reserve Bank served as the central bank for Pakistan until June 1948 when the State Bank of Pakistan commenced operations. Though originally set up as a shareholders’ bank, the RBI has been fully owned by the government of India since its nationalization in 1949.