Rajiv Ranjan appointed VP & CRO of BRICS New Development Bank

Former member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Dr. Rajiv Ranjan has been appointed by BRICS countries as Vice President and Chief Risk Officer (CRO) of their New Development Bank (NDB).

• The New Development Bank (NDB), established by BRICS countries, has appointed Dr. Rajiv Ranjan, former member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as its Vice President and Chief Risk Officer (CRO).
• Ranjan is an experienced central banker with more than 35 years of experience. After starting his tenure at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 1989, he served as Executive Director and member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) since May 2022.
• He worked at the Central Bank of Oman (2012–2015) as an Economic Policy Expert, contributing to macroeconomic advisory functions in a Gulf economy.
• He obtained a Master’s degree in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, and a PhD in Economics from the University of Mumbai.
• Current President - Former President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff is the President of the NDB.

New Development Bank

• It is a multilateral development bank established in 2014 at the sixth BRICS Summit held in Fortaleza, Brazil. Its headquarters is located in Shanghai (China).
• In 2018, the New Development Bank obtained observer status at the United Nations General Assembly, establishing a strong foundation for active and useful cooperation with the United Nations.

Major projects in India funded by NDB

• NDB has financed several major infrastructure projects in India, including the Mumbai Metro Rail, the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System, and some renewable energy projects.
• So far, NDB has approved 14 Indian projects at a cost of about 4.2 billion US dollars.

BRICS

• Introduction: The term ‘BRIC’ was proposed in 2001 by British economist Jim O’Neill for emerging economies such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China.
• BRIC started functioning as a formal group during the G8 Outreach Summit in 2006, held its first summit in Russia in 2009, and became BRICS in 2010 with the inclusion of South Africa.
• Members: The initial five BRICS member countries were Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. In 2024, Iran, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, and Ethiopia joined this group, while Indonesia joined BRICS in 2025.
• Saudi Arabia has not yet formalized its membership of BRICS, while Argentina decided to withdraw from membership.
• Major initiatives of BRICS: New Development Bank (2014), Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), BRICS Grain Exchange, BRICS Rapid Information Security Channel, STI Framework Program (2015), etc.

17th BRICS Summit

• The 17th BRICS Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the theme - “Strengthening Global South Cooperation for More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance.”
• Indonesia has officially joined BRICS, while Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Nigeria, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Uganda, and Uzbekistan have been accepted as BRICS partner countries.
• India will assume the presidency of BRICS in 2026 and host the 18th BRICS Summit.