The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel on Monday resigned from his post citing personal reasons. He, however, did not specify the reason for the decision.

Patel, who took over as the 24th governor of the central bank on September 5, 2016, had the shortest tenure since 1992. He was hand-picked by the BJP-led government after his predecessor Raghuram Rajan was denied a second-term.

The 54-year old Indian economist had served as the deputy governor for three years before his appointment as the governor on September 4, 2016.

Known as 'inflation warrior', he played a key role in regulations of banks, the monetary policy framework and the all-important handling of the non-performing assets (NPAs)situation.

A Kenyan by nationality, Patel took Indian citizenship only after was appointed the deputy governor (January 2013 to September 2016) in charge of the critical monetary policy department.

Patel, who was made deputy governor in January 2013, will also be among the few RBI governors to have had a corporate background as most of the occupants of the top post at Mint Street were either career bureaucrats or economists with academic institutions.

A soft-spoken person of Gujarati origin who has kept a low profile throughout his term at RBI, Patel was first given a three year term as deputy governor and got an extension this January.

Patel also worked with International Monetary Fund before coming to India -- first at the union finance ministry and then at RBI. He also served as Advisor (Energy and Infrastructure) with the Boston Consulting Group.

Some of his previous assignments include, President (Business Development) at Reliance Industries Ltd, Executive Director and Member of the Management Committee at IDFC and Director at Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

Born on October 28, 1963, Patel is a PhD (Economics) from Yale University (1990) and M Phil from Oxford (1986). He has been a non resident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution since 2009.

He was with International Monetary Fund (IMF) between 1990 and 1995 and worked on the US, India, Bahamas and Myanmar desks. He was on deputation (1996-1997) from the IMF to RBI.