Urjit Ravindra Patel who recently resigned as India’s Central Bank Governor was born in Kenya.
Patel was born in Nairobi on October 28, 1963 after his family migrated from Mahudha village in Kheda district, Gujarat to Kenya years earlier.
He studied at Visa Oswal Primary School and later at Jamhuri High School in Nairobi.
He later travelled to Europe where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics from London School of Economics and his Master of Philosophy in Economics from Linacre College Oxford in 1986.
Patel later earned Doctor of Philosophy in Economics from Yale Univesity in 1990.
After obtaining his Ph.D., Patel joined the IMF in 1990 and later moved to India playing an advisory role at the Reserve Bank of India.
After the two-year deputation with RBI, Patel became a consultant to the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs – a position he held from 1998 to 2001.
On 11 January 2013, Patel was appointed as Deputy Governor of RBI for a period of three years.
On 20 August 2016, he was appointed as the governor of Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) succeeding Raghuram Rajan.
The governor resigned unceremoniously on Monday citing ‘personal reasons’ from the position he held since his appointment in2016.
“On account of personal reasons, I have decided to step down from my current position effective immediately. It has been my privilege and honour to serve in the Reserve Bank of India in various capacities over the years,” read his statement on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).