The government is in search of a successor to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor D. Subbarao as he does not want an extension in his term.

Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters that Subbarao had told him that he wanted to move on and would not like to be considered for an extension.

Speaking on the topic, Chidambaram said, "Dr. Subbarao had met me a few weeks ago and said he would like to move on and he would not like to be considered for another term. I accepted. So now we are in search mode."

The Governor himself told Reuters earlier in July that he wanted to move on but rumors continued that the government could offer him an extension.

Sixty-three-year-old Subbarao's ongoing term will come to an end in September this year. He was appointed as RBI governor in September 2008.

As per some media reports, the government wants to make no big change as the country has been in the grip of several economic challenges , including depreciation in the value of rupee, a record-high current account deficit and sluggish GDP growth.

India's GDP growth rate slipped to a decade low of 5 per cent in the last financial year. It was well below the ten-year average of around 8 per cent.