The hunt for India’s next central bank Governor is on and fast picking pace with agency reports on Thursday suggesting two candidates for the position citing government officials.A Dow Jones wire report said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pick the Reserve Bank of India Governor post talks with the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.A senior official aware of initial discussions told ET earlier this week that the government is more keen on appointing an economist as the RBI Governor to send a strong signal to the international community and address concerns over the RBI's monetary policy independence.From the four names that emerged as front runners for the post last week, former Deputy Governors Rakesh Mohan and Subir Gokarn are being touted as strong contenders.Rakesh Mohan is an old RBI hand who knows the government well from the inside, having been secretary at the department of economic affairs and chief economic adviser. He was India's executive director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a three-year term beginning November 2012.Subir Gokarn is executive director on the IMF board, having replaced Mohan. He was earlier chief Asia-Pacific economist at Standard and Poor's.Others on the list of eligible candidates included current Deputy Governor Urjit Patel and State Bank of India Chair Arundhati Bhattacharya Last week, senior officials told ET the government is considering a proposal to extend Bhattacharya's term as chairman of State Bank of India by at least a year as the state-run bank is set to absorbs five associate units and Bhartiya Mahila Bank while cleaning up the bank’s books of bad loans. An extension of Bhattacharya’s tenure would rule her out as a contender for the position.The decision to appoint outgoing Governor Raghuram Rajan ’s successor is likely to be announced by July 15, Dow Jones reported. Rajan’s 3-year tenure as the RBI chief ends on September 4.