S Somanath, former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), was on Thursday appointed as a part-time, non-official director on the central board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Somanath, who retired from ISRO in January 2025, will serve on the central board for four years with effect from August 20, 2026, according to an official statement.
The aerospace engineer has served the space programme in various capacities. After retiring from ISRO, he was appointed chancellor of Chanakya University, a liberal arts varsity near Bengaluru.
Meanwhile, the RBI also reappointed billionaire Anand Mahindra as a part-time, non-official director on the central board for another four-year term, according to a separate statement.
Other members of the central board include Revathy Iyer, a retired officer from the Indian Audit & Accounts Service who went on to become Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General, Government Accounts, and Sachin Chaturvedi, Director General of think tank Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS).
RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, Deputy Governors Swaminathan J, Poonam Gupta, SC Murmu and Rohit Jain, Economic Affairs Secretary Anuradha Thakur and Financial Services Secretary Sanjay Lohia are also members of the central board.
