RBI Grade B
Recruits Grade B officers (Assistant Manager level) into the Reserve Bank of India for General, Department of Economic and Policy Research (DEPR) and Department of Statistics and Information Management (DSIM) streams.
Eligibility
General stream: a bachelor's degree with at least 60% (50% for SC/ST/PwBD) or a postgraduate degree with 55% (pass marks for SC/ST/PwBD). DEPR needs a master's in economics/finance-related fields; DSIM needs a master's in statistics, mathematics or related fields. Age 21-30 years with category relaxations; MPhil/PhD holders get additional relaxation. General/EWS candidates are limited to six attempts in the General stream.
Age limit: 21-30 years (category relaxations apply)
Exam pattern
General stream Phase I is a 200-mark objective test of 120 minutes covering General Awareness (80 marks), Reasoning (60), English (30) and Quantitative Aptitude (30), with sectional and aggregate cut-offs. Phase II has three online papers of 100 marks each: Economic and Social Issues (ESI) and Finance & Management (F&M), each with objective and descriptive (typed) parts, and English (Writing Skills), which is descriptive. Interview carries 75 marks. A quarter-mark penalty applies to wrong objective answers. DEPR and DSIM streams take subject-specific papers.
Syllabus at a glance
Phase I: current affairs and banking awareness, high-level reasoning, English comprehension and quant/DI. ESI covers growth and development, Indian economy, globalisation, social structure, social justice and government schemes. F&M covers financial system, financial markets, RBI regulation, corporate governance and principles of management including motivation, leadership and ethics. The English paper tests essay, précis and reading comprehension.
Upcoming dates
| Event | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RBI Grade B 2026 interviews and final result | Late 2026 (tba) | tba |
| RBI Grade B 2027 notification | Apr – May 2027 (expected) | expected |
| RBI Grade B 2027 Phase I | Jun 2027 (expected) | expected |
| RBI Grade B 2027 Phase II | Jul 2027 (expected) | expected |
| RBI Grade B 2027 interviews | Sep – Oct 2027 (expected) | expected |
Expected dates follow the usual calendar; confirm on the official notification before planning.
Free prep material
Standard books
- Indian Economy – Ramesh Singh
- Financial Management – Prasanna Chandra
- Principles and Practice of Management – L.M. Prasad
- Indian Financial System – Bharati V. Pathak
- Analytical Reasoning – M.K. Pandey
- Objective General English – S.P. Bakshi
How toppers play it
- General Awareness carries 80 of 200 Phase I marks; cover 6-8 months of banking and economic current affairs plus all RBI announcements.
- Clear Phase I sectional cut-offs first, but prepare ESI and F&M before Phase I since the gap to Phase II is often only five to six weeks.
- Make government reports (Economic Survey, Budget, RBI Annual Report) your ESI/F&M base; questions increasingly cite recent data and committee recommendations.
- Practise typed descriptive answers within word limits; Phase II descriptive sections are typed on screen and time is tight.
- Phase I reasoning is puzzle-heavy and lengthy; do 2-3 hard puzzle sets daily and skip unfamiliar types in the exam.