YM Deosthalee, former chairman of L&T Finance, dies at 74

YM Deosthalee, the former chairman and managing director of L&T Finance Holdings and L&T CFO, has died in Mumbai after a brief period of illness. He was 74.

Deosthalee is survived by his wife Lina and two daughters, Deepa and Meenal.

In 1994, he was instrumental in setting up L&T Finance, a wholly-owned subsidiary.  It was in 1995, that he was appointed a full-time director of L&T Group.

Per a CNBC-TV18 report, the media often reported Deosthalee as a modern-day exponent of an age-old method of doing business - eliminating risk to maximise profits. 

It was under his leadership, that a modern and vibrant treasury was set up in the firm. Thanks to Deosthalee's efforts, it now is one of the more respected of treasuries in the country.

In addition to managing the group's finances, Deosthalee also was in charge of the treasury occasionally which , raised funds from both Indian and international markets at the most appropriate times.

In 2017, Deosthalee also led the Public Credit Registry established by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The PCR was established as a repository of information regarding loan information of individuals and corporate borrowers.

He also provided the RBI a  set of instructions on how the committee should function and what information it should collect.

At the end of 2016, when Deosthalee was set to retire from the firm, L&T grew massively to have almost 121 subsidiaries, and 13 associates or joint ventures.