| # | Portrait | Name | Term | Length of tenure | Notes | Ref |
| 1 | | Osborne Smith | 1 April 1935—30 June 1937 | 2 years, 90 days | Smith was an Australian banker who served as the managing governor of the Imperial Bank of India before becoming the governor. He resigned the governorship before the completion of the term. | |
| 2 | | James Braid Taylor | 1 July 1937—17 February 1943 | 5 years, 231 days | Taylor was an ICS officer who served as the controller of the currency and the deputy governor of the RBI. He died while in office. | |
| 3 | | C. D. Deshmukh | 11 August 1943—30 June 1949 | 5 years, 323 days | Deshmukh was an ICS officer who served as the deputy governor of the RBI. He was the first Indian to serve as the governor. His governorship oversaw the partition of India as the subsequent division of assets and liabilities between India and Pakistan. | |
| 4 | | Benegal Rama Rau | 1 July 1949—14 January 1957 | 7 years, 197 days | Rau was an ICS officer who served as the ambassador to the United States. He resigned the governorship before the completion of his second extended term. | |
| 5 | | K. G. Ambegaonkar | 14 January 1957—28 February 1957 | 45 days | Ambegaokar was an ICS officer who served as the Finance Secretary before becoming the deputy governor of RBI. He was appointed as the interim governor upon the resignation of Benegal Rama Rau. | |
| 6 | | H. V. R. Iengar | 1 March 1957—28 February 1962 | 4 years, 364 days | Iyengar was an ICS officer who served as the chairman of the State Bank of India. Indian coinage was shifted to decimal coinage during his governorship. | |
| 7 | | P. C. Bhattacharya | 1 March 1962—30 June 1967 | 5 years, 121 days | Bhattacharya was an Indian Audit and Accounts Service officer who served as the chairman of the State Bank of India before becoming the governor. | |
| 8 | | Lakshmi Kant Jha | 1 July 1967—3 May 1970 | 2 years, 306 days | Jha was an ICS officer who served as the secretary to the prime minister before becoming the governor. He left the office upon his appointment as the ambassador to the United States. | |
| 9 | | B. N. Adarkar | 4 May 1970—15 June 1970 | 42 days | Adarkar was an economist who served as the economic advisor to the government before becoming the deputy governor of RBI. He was appointed as the interim governor. | |
| 10 | | S. Jagannathan | 16 June 1970—19 May 1975 | 4 years, 337 days | Jagannathan was an ICS officer who served as India's Executive Director of the World Bank before becoming the governor. He resigned the office to become the India's Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund. | |
| 11 | | N. C. Sen Gupta | 19 May 1975—19 August 1975 | 92 days | Gupta served as the Secretary to the Department of Banking before becoming the interim governor. | |
| 12 | | K. R. Puri | 20 August 1975—2 May 1977 | 1 year, 255 days | Puri served as the chairman of the Life Insurance Corporation before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw the formation of various regional rural banks. | |
| 13 | | M. Narasimham | 3 May 1977—30 November 1977 | 211 days | Narasimham was a RBI research officer who served as an Additional Secretary to the Department of Economic Affairs before becoming the governor. | |
| 14 | | I. G. Patel | 1 December 1977—15 September 1982 | 4 years, 288 days | Patel was an economist who served as a Secretary in the Ministry of Finance before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw the demonetization of ₹5,000 and ₹10,000 value currency. | |
| 15 | | Manmohan Singh | 16 September 1982—14 January 1985 | 2 years, 120 days | Singh is an economist who served as the Finance Secretary before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw various legal reforms related to the banking sector. | |
| 16 | | Amitav Ghosh | 15 January 1985—4 February 1985 | 20 days | Ghosh was the deputy governor of RBI who was appointed as the interim governor until R. N. Malhotra assumed the office. | |
| 17 | | R. N. Malhotra | 4 February 1985—22 December 1990 | 5 years, 321 days | Malhotra was an Indian Administrative Services officer who served as Executive Director of the IMF before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw the inauguration of Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research. | |
| 18 | | S. Venkitaramanan | 22 December 1990—21 December 1992 | 1 year, 365 days | Venkitaramanan was an IAS officer who served as the Finance Secretary before becoming the governor. India adopted IMF's stabilization program during his governorship. | |
| 19 | | C. Rangarajan | 22 December 1992—21 November 1997 | 4 years, 334 days | Rangarajan is an economist who served as the deputy governor of RBI before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw the establishment of unified exchange rate. | |
| 20 | | Bimal Jalan | 22 November 1997—6 September 2003 | 5 years, 288 days | Jalan is an economist who served at various positions including being the chief economic adviser to the government and serving as the Finance Secretary before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw less inflation and interest rates. | |
| 21 | | Y. V. Reddy | 6 September 2003—5 September 2008 | 4 years, 365 days | Reddy is an IAS officer who served as the deputy governor of RBI before becoming the governor. During his governorship, he contributed in the financial sector reforms and external commercial borrowings. | |
| 22 | | D. Subbarao | 5 September 2008—4 September 2013 | 4 years, 364 days | Subbarao is an IAS officer who served as the Finance Secretary before becoming the governor. He wrote on various issues including decentralization and public finance. | |
| 23 | | Raghuram Rajan | 4 September 2013—4 September 2016 | 3 years, 0 days | Rajan is an economist who served as the chief economic advisor to the government and the chief economist of IMF before becoming the governor. | |
| 24 | | Urjit Patel | 4 September 2016—10 December 2018 | 2 years, 98 days | Patel is an economist who worked with the IMF and the central government. He served as the deputy governor of RBI before becoming the governor. His governorship oversaw the demonetization of ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes. He later resigned citing personal reasons. | |
| 25 | | Shaktikanta Das | 12 December 2018—11 December 2024 | 5 years, 365 days | Das was an IAS officer who served as the Revenue Secretary and later Economic Affairs Secretary. He served as a Member of the 15th Finance Commission before becoming the governor. | |
| 26 | | Sanjay Malhotra | 11 December 2024—Incumbent | 322 days | Malhotra is an IAS officer who served as the Financial Services Secretary and later Revenue Secretary before becoming the governor. | |
