Dr Ravikant Joshi

Dr. Ravikant Joshi is a distinguished urban finance and management specialist with over 45 years of experience across India and internationally. As Senior Fellow (Urban Finance & Governance) at the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), he brings deep expertise in municipal finance, urban governance reforms, and institutional capacity building.

Dr. Joshi previously served as the Chief Accounts Officer of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation, where he played a pioneering role in strengthening financial systems at the city level. Notably, he conceived, designed, and spearheaded the implementation of the Accrual-Based Double Entry Accounting System across 159 municipal bodies in Gujarat—an initiative widely recognised as a benchmark in urban financial reform.

He is currently a Member of the High-Level Committee on Urban Planning constituted by the Government of India. In addition, he serves as a Short-Term Consultant to leading multilateral institutions, including the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, as well as to various professional and consulting organisations. Since 2002, he has been associated with CRISIL as an expert member on several consultancy assignments, and after serving as Advisor – Urban at CRISIL Risk and Infrastructure Solutions from 2002 to 2017, he continues to contribute as a consultant since September 2020.

Dr. Joshi has extensive experience working with international development agencies such as the World Bank, Water and Sanitation Program, Asian Development Bank (ADB), USAID, DFID, UN-Habitat, and the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF), in addition to numerous national and state-level organisations on urban development issues.

Between July 2017 and August 2020, he served as Team Leader of the Technical Support Group for the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, where he provided strategic guidance on urban poverty alleviation and livelihoods.

An accomplished academic, Dr. Joshi has contributed as visiting faculty to several premier institutions, including Symbiosis School of Economics, Pune; NICMAR, Pune; MIT Pune; CEPT University; and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), among others. He has also served as Chair Professor for Urban Management at St. Joseph’s College of Business Administration, Bengaluru. Through these engagements, he has trained municipal officials, elected representatives, and urban practitioners across the country.

Dr. Joshi has been actively engaged with civil society organisations, including Janaagraha (Bengaluru), PRAJA (Mumbai), YUVA, PRIYA, the Centre for Environment Education (CEE), Janawani, and the Avantha Foundation, contributing to initiatives aimed at strengthening participatory urban governance and accountability.

With a career spanning public institutions, academia, multilateral organisations, and civil society, Dr. Joshi continues to be a leading voice in advancing urban finance reforms and governance practices in India.