Urjit Patel, former governor of the Reserve Bank of India, India's central bank, has been appointed as a vice president of the Beijing-based multilateral funding institution Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

The bank, launched in January 2016, has 1o5 approved members worldwide, including Nepal.

Patel, 58, will be one of the five vice presidents of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) with 3-year tenure, according to Indian media reports.

He is expected to take over his posting next month.

India is a founding member of AIIB with the second highest voting share after China. It is headed by former Chinese vice minister for finance Jin Liqun.

Patel took over as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor from Raghuram Rajan on September 5, 2016. But he resigned in December 2018 “on account of personal reasons”, saying “I have decided to step down from my current position effective immediately.

He was a deputy governor overseeing the monetary policy department at the RBI and was known as his “inflation-warrior”.

Patel has previously worked with the IMF, Boston Consulting Group and Reliance Industries among other organisations.

Patel’s posting to AIIB is regarded as significant as India has emerged as its biggest beneficiary by obtaining $6.7 billion funding for 28 projects, according to reports.

The AIIB has approved more loans for India than any other member of the bank.

"Also, the AIIB along with the Asian Development (ADB) is processing a $2 billion loan for India to purchase Covid-19 vaccines," according to media reports.

Nepal received its first loan approval from AIIB in 2019.

The AIIB's board of directors had in June 2019 approved a loan of up to $90 million for the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower project, AIIB’s first project in Nepal.

This project is one of several steps AIIB is taking to support the development of Nepal’s electricity sector.

The Bank has also provided Nepal with $900,000 for the proposed Tamakoshi V hydroelectric project and $1 million for the proposed power distribution system upgrade and expansion project from its project preparation special fund which provides grants to support the preparation of projects for eligible AIIB members.

These grants are part of AIIB’s overall efforts in Nepal to increase energy generation capacity, reduce the demand-supply gap, upgrade transmission infrastructure and reduce electricity system losses.