Reserve Bank of India

The Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is the central bank of India, regulatory body for the Indian banking system and Indian currency. Owned by the Ministry of Finance, Government of the Republic of India, it is responsible for the control, issue, and supply of the Indian rupee. It also manages the country's main payment systems.

The RBI, along with the Indian Banks' Association, established the National Payments Corporation of India to promote and regulate the payment and settlement systems in India. Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (BRBNM) is a specialised division of RBI through which it prints and mints Indian currency notes (INR) in two of its currency printing presses located in Mysore (Karnataka; Southern India) and Salboni (West Bengal; Eastern India). Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation was established by RBI as one of its specialized division for the purpose of providing insurance of deposits and guaranteeing of credit facilities to all Indian banks.

Until the Monetary Policy Committee was established in 2016, it also had full control over monetary policy in the country. It commenced its operations on 1 April 1935 in accordance with the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. The original share capital was divided into shares of 100 each fully paid. The RBI was nationalised on 1 January 1949, almost a year and a half after India's independence.

The overall direction of the RBI lies with the 21-member central board of directors, composed of: the governor; four deputy governors; two finance ministry representatives (usually the Economic Affairs Secretary and the Financial Services Secretary); ten government-nominated directors; and four directors who represent local boards for Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and Delhi. Each of these local boards consists of five members who represent regional interests and the interests of co-operative and indigenous banks.

It is a member bank of the Asian Clearing Union. The bank is also active in promoting financial inclusion policy and is a leading member of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI). The bank is often referred to by the name "Mint Street".

The preamble of the Reserve Bank of India describes the basic functions of the reserve bank as:

...to regulate the issue of Bank notes and keeping of reserves with a view to securing monetary stability in India and generally to operate the currency and credit system of the country to its advantage; to have a modern monetary policy framework to meet the challenge of an increasingly complex economy, to maintain price stability while keeping in mind the objective of growth.

The Hilton Young Commission (1928), which laid the groundwork for the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, considered Ambedkar's recommendations. His advocacy for a managed currency system and an independent central bank to regulate credit and control inflation influenced the RBI's establishment in 1935.