BJP dismisses RBI shifting rumours ahead of Maharashtra assembly elections

Mumbai, Oct 6: Amid the campaigning for Maharashtra Assembly polls, the BJP today termed the rumours of shifting of Reserve Bank of India offices to Delhi from Mumbai as a false propaganda by the rival political parties.

"Not a single department of RBI has been shifted from Mumbai. This is all very irresponsible on the part of the Opposition to spread such misinformation," Union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said here.

Maharashtra unit of Congress recently accused the Narendra Modi-led government of being biased against the state, and claimed that it was planning to reduce the importance of Mumbai as the financial capital of the country and also shut down operations at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust.

Former state Industries Minister Narayan Rane had said that three divisions of RBI's forex department had been shifted to Delhi. A letter to the editor about the impact this would have by lowering the importance of Mumbai was carried by Shiv Sena's mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

The Reserve Bank of India was set up in 1935 in Mumbai and has contributed to the emergence of the megapolis as a financial nervecentre.

PTI