R Ravimohan: A man who wore many hats

MUMBAI: Best remembered for his outstanding contribution to credit rating industry, R Ravimohan was also known as an entrepreneur right from the time he was the young executive in ICICI Bank. He wore several hats and was part of several advisory panels of Sebi, RBI and Raghuram Rajan Committee on Financial Sector Reforms. He was involved with the modernisation of the Indian financial system and pioneered the era of electronic stock markets in the country.

Roopa Kudva, who succeeded Ravimohan as Crisil's MD & CEO and S&P south Asia head, said that one of the traits of her former boss of many years was the freedom he gave to his team members. "He empowers people and encourages them to think independently."

Ravimohan did his schooling from DTEA in Delhi, moved to Trichy to join Regional Engineering College. A chemical engineer, he later completed the advanced management programme from Harvard Business School. Known to have a fondness for gadgets he was a teetotaler, a non smoker, a cricket fan and an avid reader.

L&T CFO YM Deosthalee, who knew Ravimohan since 1989 said one could chat with him on varied topics from economy to politics. He was quiet knowledgeable and was not just restricted to his area of operations."He was someone whom I could call anytime."

Ravimohan's father is a retired government official and his mother is a homemaker. He also has three siblings. He is survived by his wife Madhuralakshmi, a homemaker and two children Hridaya, who is doing engineering from IIT Kharagpur and Jagad, who is schooling in Mumbai.

The funeral took place on Tuesday afternoon at Shivaji Park Crematorium in Dadar and was attended by Mukesh Ambani, Roopa Kudva, RIL's executive director PMS Prasad, CFO Alok Agarwal among others.