Reserve Bank of India, South Zonal Office

The Reserve Bank of India in Chennai is one of the four zonal representations of the Reserve Bank of India, the central bank of India, the other three being located in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata. The central office of the Reserve Bank is located in Mumbai. The Chennai office serves the southern region of the country. It is also the office of the regional director of the bank for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, along with 19 other regional offices across the country. The Chennai zonal office is located in Fort Glacis on Rajaji Salai. The Chennai office also represents the local board for the southern region of India headed by a director and is also one of the four zonal training centres of the bank. The Reserve Bank Staff College is located at Anna Salai, Teynampet, which is one of the two colleges of the bank, the other one located in Pune.HistoryThe Reserve Bank of India was established on the basis of the recommendations of the Hilton Young Commission. The bank commenced operations on 1 April 1935. The bank was established in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (II of 1934). The bank began its operations by taking over from the government the functions so far being performed by the Controller of Currency and from the Imperial Bank of India, the management of government accounts and public debt. The Central Office of the Reserve Bank, where the governor sits and where policies are formulated, was initially established in Calcutta but was permanently moved to Mumbai in 1937. The existing currency offices at Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Rangoon, Karachi, Lahore and Cawnpore (Kanpur) became branches of the Issue Department. Offices of the Banking Department were established in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Delhi and Rangoon. Burma (Myanmar) seceded from the Indian Union in 1937 but the Reserve Bank continued to act as the Central Bank for Burma till Japanese Occupation of Burma and later up to April, 1947. After the partition of India, the Reserve Bank served as the central bank of Pakistan up to June 1948 when the State Bank of Pakistan commenced operations. The bank, which was originally a shareholder's bank, was nationalised in 1949 and is fully owned by the Government of India since then.