Benegal Rama Rau

Benegal Rama Rau combined colonial administration, overseas representation, and central banking. Born in 1889, he joined the Indian Civil Service in 1913 and became financial adviser to the Simon Commission. He subsequently served as deputy high commissioner in London and as India's agent-general and high commissioner in South Africa. Between 1941 and 1946 he chaired the Bombay Port Trust. ¹

Rau became ambassador in Washington in 1948, when India's integration of the princely states was an immediate diplomatic concern. In September he asked American officials how they viewed the dispute over Hyderabad. The State Department opposed an independent Hyderabad and wanted a close association with India, while considering a plebiscite supervised by the United Nations. ²

His American posting ended with a return to financial administration. In January 1949 Jawaharlal Nehru accepted his appointment as governor of the Reserve Bank of India, while expressing regret at losing him from Washington. Rau headed the bank until 1957. He resigned after a dispute with the finance minister over a proposed increase in stamp duty on bills used in the bank's bill market scheme, an episode subsequently discussed in the RBI's examination of central bank independence. He died in 1969. ^{3, 4, 1}