RBI Grade B Exam 2024 Qualifications, Syllabus, Selection Process

Table of Contents

RBI Grade B 2024 Exam Pattern

RBI Grade B Exam 2024 Pay Scale

RBI Grade B Exam 2024 Qualifications

RBI Grade B Exam 2024 Age Limit and Relaxation

RBI Grade B 2024 Phase I Exam & Syllabus

RBI Grade B Exam Maximum Attempts

Overview

RBI, the apex bank of India releases notification to the post of Grade B Officers every year. Being one of the prestigious governing bodies for banking institutions of the nation the exam will have lakhs of applicants which intensifies the nature of the competition. Aspirants applying for the post will be categorised to General, DEPR and DSIM departments. Each of these posts have separate qualification criteria and Phase II exams. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently revamped its recruitment process for Officers in Grade-'B', introducing a more comprehensive and dynamic approach. This article provides an in-depth exploration of the key features and changes in the selection process, aiming to guide prospective candidates through the intricacies of the new scheme. To successfully complete the selection process and appointed as Grade B Officer in RBI candidates need intense training. And to this applicants are advised to join a coaching class

RBI Grade B 2024 Exam Pattern

There are Phase-I and Phase-II, followed by an interview for RBI Grade B Officer Examination. Phase-I is in objective format. And Phase-II have both objective and descriptive patterns. This kind of selection process can filter in the best of the best brains from the lakhs of applicants. Since RBI is the apex body of banking institutes in India, we need the best in the class officers to run the office. They have grand promotional opportunities and can be promoted to the office of RBI Governor at the peak of their career

The exam is mainly conducted for three categories DR General, Department of Economic and Policy Research (DEPR) and Department of Statistics and Information Management (DSIM). Candidates need to score a minimum mark in order to qualify for phase II.

RBI Grade B Exam 2024 Pay Scale

Candidates who are successfully selected through RBI’s selection process will be drawing a basic salary of ₹ 55,200 /-. And the Grade B officers are eligible for allowances such as Dearness Allowance, Local Allowance, House Rent Allowance, Family allowance and Grade Allowance as per rules in force from time to time. At present, initial monthly gross emoluments are 1,08,404/- (approximately) The House Allowance of 15% of Basic Pay will be paid, if accommodation is not provided by the Bank.

RBI Grade B Exam 2024 Qualifications

The DR General, DEPR and DSIR have separate qualifications.

Qualification Required for DR General Post

The applicants of DR General must have

• Graduation in any discipline /Equivalent technical or professional qualification with minimum 60% marks (50% for SC/ST/PwBD applicants)

OR

• Any such course from a recognised University / Institute that is taken after Class XII and is at least of 3 years’ duration/ candidates possessing professional

OR

• Technical qualifications which are recognised by the Government as equivalent to professional or technical graduation will be eligible for admission to the examination, subject to obtaining minimum marks prescribed above.

Or

• Post- Graduation in any discipline / Equivalent technical or professional qualification with minimum 55% marks (pass marks for SC/ST/PwBD applicants) in aggregate of all semesters / years.

OR

• Any such course from a recognised University / Institute that is taken after Graduation and is at least of 2 years’ duration / recognised by the Government as equivalent to professional or technical post-graduation will be eligible for admission to the examination, subject to obtaining minimum marks prescribed above.

Qualification Required for DR DEPR Post

• A Master's Degree in Economics (or any other master's degree where "Economics" is the principal constituent* of the curriculum/syllabus, namely MA / MSc in Quantitative Economics, Mathematical Economics, Financial Economics, Business Economics, Agricultural Economics, Industrial Economics)

OR

• A Master's Degree in Finance (or any other master's degree where "Finance" is the principal constituent* of the curriculum / syllabus, namely MA / MSc in Quantitative Finance, Mathematical Finance, Quantitative Techniques, International Finance, Business Finance, Banking and Trade Finance, International and Trade Finance, Project and Infrastructure Finance, Agri Business Finance)

OR

• PGDM / MBA with specialization# in Economics / Finance.

Qualification Required for DR DSIM

• A Master's Degree in Statistics/ Mathematical Statistics/ Mathematical Economics/ Econometrics/ Statistics & Informatics/ Applied Statistics & Informatics with a minimum of 55% marks or equivalent grade in aggregate of all semesters / years;

OR

• Master's Degree in Mathematics with a minimum of 55% marks or an equivalent grade in aggregate of all semesters / years and one year post graduate diploma in Statistics or related subjects from an Institute of repute;

OR

• M. Stat. Degree of Indian Statistical Institute with a minimum of 55% marks in aggregate of all semesters / years;

OR

• Post Graduate Diploma in Business Analytics (PGDBA) jointly offered by ISI Kolkata, IIT Kharagpur and IIM Calcutta with a minimum of 55% marks or equivalent grade in aggregate of all semesters/years.

RBI Grade B Exam 2024 Age Limit and Relaxation

RBI Grade B Exam has laid down the age criteria as mentioned below.

1. The present age criteria of “Between 21 to 30 years” will be retained.
2. For M. Phil and Ph. D candidates the upper age limit will be 32 and 34 years, respectively.
3. As per extant practice age relaxation will be available to experienced candidates viz. candidates having experience as an officer in Commercial Bank/ Financial Institution in Public Sector as also candidates with prior experience in Reserve Bank of India, to the extent of number of years of such experience subject to a maximum of three years. For such candidates, upper age limit should not exceed 33 years including experience. For experience, probationary period will not be reckoned.
4. There are relaxations in upper age limit as per statutory requirements and for the staff.

RBI Grade B 2024 Phase I Exam & Syllabus

Questions are asked mainly from four subjects in Phase I. Only one paper for the exam for a total of 200 marks and the time duration for the exam is 2 hours. The exam is common for all candidates applied for General, DEPR and DSIM departments. Only candidates who have scored above the cut off marks after normalisation is selected for Phase II. And the exam will be a deciding factor for candidates who are aspiring for DEPR and DSIM.

• Reasoning
• Quantitative Aptitude
• General Awareness
• English Language

Here each of the above-mentioned sections have respective time. The exam will be for a total of 200 marks and 2 hours.

Detailed Syllabus for RBI Grade B Phase I Exam 2024
English	Quantitative Aptitude	Reasoning	General Awareness
Grammar	Mensuration	Puzzles	Banking & Financial Awareness
Vocabulary	Time & Work	Seating Arrangement	Monetary Policies
Error Spotting	Average, Ratio, Percentage	Directions & Distance	Economic Terms
Comprehension	Speech, Distance and Time	Data Sufficiency	Current Affairs
Passage Making	Mixture & Allegations	Blood Relations	Financial & Economic News
Jumble Words	Permutation & Combination	Syllogism	Static GK
Fill in the Blanks	Probability	Inequality	Banking Terms, Rates, Processes

Compared to phase I phase II exams are combination of both objective and descriptive time tests. In phase II the syllabus has three Papers which are

• Economic and Social Issues – Paper I is a 30 minutes objective exam for 50 marks. Also, there is a 90minutes descriptive exam for 50 marks.
• English (Writing Skill) – Paper II is to mainly test the writing skills of the candidates. This will be a 90 minutes descriptive exam with three questions and for 100 marks
• General Finance and Management – Again Paper III here is a combination of objective and descriptive test with total marks and time allowed is same as that of Paper I.

Interview is the third phase of the selection process. To be selected for interview candidates must obtain the minimum cut off marks as the total aggregate for all the three papers in Phase II alone.

The detailed syllabus for Phase II Exams is as follows

Paper-I - Economic and Social Issues (ESI)

Phase II PAPER I (General) Detailed Syllabus
Growth and Development	Political Economy	Gender Issues
Measurement of growth: National Income and per capita income	Industrial Developments in India	Social Justice: Positive Discrimination in favour of the under privileged
Poverty Alleviation and Employment Generation in India	Indian Agriculture	Social Movements
Sustainable Development and Environmental issues. Indian Economy	Services sector in India. Globalization	Indian Political System
Economic History of India	Opening up of the Indian Economy	Human Development
Changes in Industrial and Labour Policy, Monetary and Fiscal Policy since reforms of 1991	Balance of Payments, Export-Import Policy	Social Sectors in India, Health and Education.
Priorities and recommendations of Economic Survey and Union Budget	International Economic Institutions	Urbanisation and Migration
Indian Money and Financial Markets: Linkages with the economy	Multiculturalism	Public Finance
Role of Indian banks and Reserve Bank in the development process	Demographic Trends

Paper II – This is generally to test the writing skills including expression and understanding of the topic.

Paper III is on General Finance and Management

1. Financial System
   1. Reserve Bank of India and Financial Institutions
   2. Reserve Bank of India- functions and conduct of monetary policy
   3. Banking System in India – Structure and concerns, Financial Institutions – SIDBI, EXIM Bank, NABARD, NHB, etc., Changing landscape of banking sector.
   4. Impact of the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-08 and the Indian response
2. Financial Markets Primary and Secondary Markets (Forex, Money, Bond, Equity, etc.), functions, instruments, recent developments.
3. General Topics
   1. Risk Management in Banking Sector
   2. Basics of Derivatives
   3. Global financial markets and International Banking – broad trends and latest developments.
   4. Financial Inclusion
   5. Alternate source of finance, private and social cost-benefit, Public-Private Partnership
   6. Corporate Governance in Banking Sector, role of e-governance in addressing issues of corruption and inefficiency in the government sector. 7.
   7. The Union Budget – Concepts, approach and broad trends
   8. Inflation: Definition, trends, estimates, consequences, and remedies (control): WPI, CPI - components and trends; striking a balance between inflation and growth through monetary and fiscal policies.
   9. FinTech

4. Management
   1. Fundamentals of Management & Organizational Behaviour:
      1. Introduction to management; Evolution of management thought: Scientific, Administrative, Human Relations and Systems approach to management; Management functions and Managerial roles; Nudge theory
      2. Fundamentals of Management & Organizational Behaviour: Introduction to management; Evolution of management thought: Scientific, Administrative, Human Relations and Systems approach to management; Management functions and Managerial roles; Nudge theory.
      3. Leadership: Concept, Theories (Trait, Behavioural, Contingency, Charismatic, Transactional and Transformational Leadership; Emotional Intelligence: Concept, Importance, Dimensions. Analysis of Interpersonal Relationship: Transactional Analysis, Johari Window; Conflict: Concept, Sources, Types, Management of Conflict; Organizational Change: Concept, Kurt Lewin Theory of Change; Organizational Development (OD): Organisational Change, Strategies for Change, Theories of Planned Change (Lewin’s change model, Action research model, Positive model).
   2. Ethics at the Workplace and Corporate Governance:
      1. Meaning of ethics, why ethical problems occur in business. Theories of ethics: Utilitarianism: weighing social cost and benefits, Rights and duties, Justice and fairness, ethics of care, integrating utility, rights, justice and caring, An alternative to moral principles: virtue ethics, teleological theories, egoism theory, relativism theory, Moral issues in business: Ethics in Compliance, Finance, Human Resources, Marketing, etc. Ethical Principles in Business: introduction, Organization Structure and Ethics, Role of Board of Directors, Best Practices in Ethics Programme, Code of Ethics, Code of Conduct, etc.
      2. Corporate Governance: Factors affecting Corporate Governance; Mechanisms of Corporate Governance
      3. Communication: Steps in the Communication Process; Communication Channels; Oral versus Written Communication; Verbal versus non-verbal Communication; upward, downward and lateral communication; Barriers to Communication, Role of Information Technology.

RBI Grade B Exam Maximum Attempts

The maximum attempts for a candidate were 4 previously. Now RBI has amended this rule by making the maximum number of attempts within the age limit as 6. This move is initiated in order to create a broader perspective of inclusiveness.

Preparation.

Candidates are best advised to start the preparations early. As the updated syllabi was released in 2023 no great changes are expected this year. Therefore, aspirants need not wait for the notification to release. Since both descriptive and objective exams are present in the selection process, intense coaching is a must to get through the selection process successfully. Training for interview sessions must be taken separately. Candidates are advised to follow the ‘one step at a time” philosophy. Seeing the intricate selection process and vast syllabus candidates might panic and lose their focus. Instead, they should prepare a comprehensive time table with which you can complete the whole syllabus within the time limit. Entering a good coaching platform will definitely improve the spirit and chance of clearing the selection process successfully.