About us

The name of late Dr. Ramachandra H. Patil is associated with many pivotal developmental phases of the Indian financial market. He was instrumental in pioneering critical financial institutions in the Indian financial market. The immense success of financial institutions he founded in India bringing a sea-change in financial markets can be attributed to the vision, foresightedness and self-less dedication of Dr. Patil. His confidence that the processes and systems of institutions should be robust enough to outlive the people associated with them has been demonstrated by the resilience and stability of the institutions that he founded and built in his lifetime.

Dr. Patil pioneered a revolution in the Indian OTC market, facilitating the establishment of a central counterparty, The Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL). The setting up of CCIL and its wholly owned subsidiary Clearcorp Dealing Systems (India) Ltd. revolutionized the trading and settlement architecture in Government Securities, Foreign Exchange, Money and Derivative markets by minimising systemic risk and enhancing price discovery and transparency.  

Prior to this, Dr. Patil was instrumental in setting up of multiple other institutions, starting with National Stock Exchange (NSE) - India’s first electronic stock exchange, India’s first stock market clearing corporation i.e., NSE Clearing Limited and India’s first depository, the National Securities Depositories Ltd. (NSDL), to offer a complete seamless flow in equity trading for investors. Dr. Patil was also instrumental in setting up the credit rating agency, CARE (Credit Analysis and Research Ltd.). 

Early Life and Education

Born in 1937 in Nandgad village, near Belgaum in Karnataka, he studied at the Mahatma Gandhi High School in Nandgad, the Karnataka College in Dharwad and Pune's Ferguson College. His favourite subjects were Maths, Economics and Physics. He went on to do post-graduation and a Ph.D in Economics from Bombay University. Apart from his interest in economics, he was an avid reader of philosophical books and has read extensively on Hindu as well as Buddhist philosophies.

Career and contribution

Dr. Patil served initially with the Bombay University as a faculty member and then with Reserve Bank of India in 1968 as the Research Officer and latter Deputy Director at the then Economics Department, Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He later moved to the International Finance division, which looked after RBI’s relations with International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

In 1975, he joined Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) and was involved in various functions like direct loans, treasury functions, research and planning and merchant banking. After 18 years of association with IDBI, he assumed the role of the first Managing Director of NSE in 1993. In 2001 he joined CCIL as its Chairman and held the position till he passed away in April 2012. He turned CCIL into one of the success stories in the Indian financial markets through his vision, out-of-the-box thinking and leadership.

Dr. Patil has also provided consultancy support to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a Report on the Indian Financial Sector and a Report on the Capital Market of Bangladesh in May 1997. 

During his illustrious career, he served on the Boards of a number of Institutions and Companies as Chairman and/or Director. He also served as the Chairman of Disinvestment Commission, Government of India during July 2001 to May 2004. Notable were his stellar contributions to the Committees which he chaired such as Payment Settlement Systems Committee, constituted by RBI, High Level Expert Committee on Corporate Bonds and Securitisation, constituted by SEBI. These Committees have played a significant role in the creation of a most robust legal, regulatory and policy framework in the space of Payment Systems and debt market in the country. He also served as Chairman of RBI’s Advisory Committee on Information and Technology, High Level Advisory Committee for Credit Information Companies (of the RBI) and was a member of the Tarapore Committee on Capital Account Convertibility in 2006. He was on the External Advisory Committee on Registration of Securitisation/Reconstruction of Companies. He was a member of RBI’s Technical Advisory Committee on Government Securities and Money markets, as well as the Technical Advisory Committee on Monetary Policy. He was also a member of the Advisory Panel on History of Indian Securities Market (of SEBI). Further he was on the Board of various institutions like SBI Capital Markets Ltd., UTI Bank Limited, Computer Age Management Services Pvt. Ltd., IDFC Mutual Fund. L & T Infrastructure Finance Limited, Tata Power Limited, etc.

Recognitions

The contribution of Dr. Patil in the Indian financial markets has been widely acknowledged and recognised. The Money Hall of Fame Award by Outlook Money in 2007, the Skoch Challenger Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2005 and the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Financial Services Sector at the 8th Annual Financial Services Convention are a few of the accolades that have been accorded to Dr. Patil over the years.