New vice president of AIIB

Senior RBI governor Urjit Patel was named vice president for investment operations in South Asia at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Beijing on Tuesday, succeeding D J Pandian, a former Gujarat administrator. Patel’s appointment will take effect on February 1, according to a statement from the AIIB.

He takes over from D Jagatheesa Pandian, a Gujarat cadre IAS official who served as the state’s chief secretary for six years. When Gujarat’s chief minister, Narendra Modi, was in office, he was the head of the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC).

“Dr Urjit Patel has been appointed to the role of Vice President for Investment Operations Region 1 – South Asia, the Pacific Islands, and South East Asia by the AIIB Board of Directors,” according to the announcement.

Patel, 58, became the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) 24th governor on September 5, 2016, following Raghuram Rajan. In December 2018, Patel abruptly resigned, claiming “personal reasons.”

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is an international development bank that aspires to improve Asia’s economic and social outcomes. The bank now has 104 members, with 17 new members on the way from all across the world.

The bank’s board of governors includes Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Below the President are five vice presidents, one of whom is Pandian, who will now be replaced by Patel.

Patel was also the previous Chair of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy’s Governing Body in New Delhi, a key think tank on fiscal policy and tax issues. He was also the Executive Director of the Infrastructure Development Finance Company Ltd. And a member of the Management Committee.

In 2019, he was awarded the Wilbur Cross Medal by Yale University, and he has written numerous scholarly publications and papers in the fields of public finance, infrastructure, regulatory economics, monetary policy, the global financial safety net, climate change economics, and international trade theory.

AIIB President Jin Liqun said, “I am thrilled to welcome Dr. Patel as the newest member of my management team.” “His considerable expertise in various public and private sectors at the national and international levels will assist the Bank in better embracing its growth phase and will promote AIIB’s objective of investing in Infrastructure for Tomorrow.” Patel’s predecessor, Pandian, was AIIB’s first Chief Investment Officer and has worked for the bank when it first opened its doors in 2016.