Annie G. Mathew, Janmejaya K. Sinha & Syed Akbaruddin Appointed To RBI Board
The Centre has appointed former Finance Ministry Special Secretary Annie George Mathew, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) India Chairman Janmejaya Kumar Sinha and former Diplomat Syed Akbaruddin as Part-Time Non-Official Directors on the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Central Board.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the Department of Financial Services’ proposal on August 22, 2026. The three appointments will be for four years.
Annie George Mathew is a Member of the 16th Finance Commission and former Special Secretary in the Expenditure Department, and has 34 years of experience in public finance, government accounts and audit, procurement and financial management. An officer of the 1988-batch Indian Audit and Accounts Service, she has held positions across the Indian Audit and Accounts Department in India and abroad. She has also led audit teams working with the United Nations, UNHCR and other international organisations. Mathew has served on the Boards of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority and Indian Overseas Bank, and earlier on the Board of State Bank of Hyderabad. She graduated from Miranda House and completed her postgraduate studies at the University of Delhi.
Janmejaya Kumar Sinha began his career at the RBI and now advises governments on structural reforms and economic transformation. He was also a private-sector member of committees led by former Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba on Viksit Bharat 2047. He served as BCG’s Chairman for the Asia-Pacific region from 2009 to 2018 and was a member of the firm’s Executive Committee during the same period. He has served on committees formed by the Government of India, RBI, and the Indian Banks’ Association, and chairs the Confederation of Indian Industry’s Committee on Financial Inclusion and Fintech. Sinha also served on a government committee on expanding digital payments. He is co-author of Your Strategy Needs a Strategy and focuses on conflict management in family businesses.
Syed Akbaruddin is a former Indian diplomat with a career in foreign policy and multilateral diplomacy. He served as India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2016 to 2020, representing the country on matters related to international peace and security, sustainable development and global cooperation. Before his UN assignment, Akbaruddin served as the Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, where he handled diplomatic communications and represented India’s position on foreign policy matters. He is a 1985-batch Indian Foreign Service officer and has also served as India’s representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency. His career includes assignments involving international organisations, multilateral negotiations and India’s engagement with global institutions. Akbaruddin has also worked on issues involving India’s foreign policy and international relations.
