Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan's successor is likely to be announced as early as this week, for which top contenders include NITI Aayog's Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya and former RBI Deputy Governors Subir Gokarn and Rakesh Mohan.
Sources said a decision is expected soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's return from his four-national Africa trip tomorrow.
Rajan, whose current three-year tenure ends on September 4, made a surprise announcement last month that he would not seek a second term and would return to academia, triggering intense speculation about the possible contenders.
Among those being talked as possible contenders, 64-year- old Panagariya is also India's key negotiator at G20 summit and has been Professor of Indian Political Economy at Columbia University.
He is a former Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank and Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland at College Park. He has also worked with the World Bank, IMF and UNCTAD and is PhD in Economics from Princeton University.
Pangariya, who is said to have been mentored by noted economist Jagdish Bhagwati, has been a vocal supporter of various economic policies of Narendra Modi, including as Prime Minister and before that as Chief Minister of Gujarat.
Among other possible contenders to replace Rajan, on- leave Professor of Finance at Chicago University and a former Chief Economist at IMF, Gokarn is currently serving as an Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund, a post previously held by Mohan as well.
Others said to be in the fray included SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das, Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian and RBI's current Deputy Governor Urjit Patel.
Traditionally, Prime Minister picks the RBI Governor after consultation with the finance minister and the same process is likely to be followed this time.
Sources said once a new governor is named, he will become an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the central bank to allow smooth transition.
Rajan, who will have the shortest tenure as RBI Governor since liberilsation began in 1991, decided not to seek a second term amid unbridled political attacks against him including by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy.
Rajan, who announced in June that he would not serve
another term at RBI, said the dialogue with the government did not reach a stage where he could have agreed to stay on.
In recent months, Rajan has faced a slew of personal attacks from BJP MP Subramanian Swamy who had alleged that the former IMF chief economist was "mentally not fully Indian" and sent confidential and sensitive financial information abroad.
Rajan has also faced criticism by some others for his controversial remarks on various occasions. At a select media interaction earlier this week after presenting his last monetary policy, he strongly defended his views saying they were "perfectly legitimate" ones and within the remit of a central bank head.
"In none of those speeches that I have made has there been an explicit criticism or an implicit criticism of the government. There are people who read the interpretation of what is the speech I have given," he said.
Rajan said his concerns on the Make in India campaign -- wherein he had pitched for 'Make for India' given the fragile economic conditions the world-over -- have come true.
In case of the post-Dadri speech at his alma mater IIT-Delhi, Rajan had reiterated the need to be open for ideas as a service-sector driven economy.
Defending these views, Rajan said, "That speech was about the fact that in order to grow as a country which is largely a service economy, we have to be open to ideas. Once you reach the frontier, the only way you can grow is by ideas. And in order to get those ideas, you have to have tolerance for unorthodox ideas because those unorthodox ideas is how we move forward."
"As a society which is developing, which in some places is near the frontier, we have to have an open dialogue," Rajan added.
"I haven't in a sense talked about (things like) dance and music. That would be exceeding my remit," he quipped.
