O P Gahrotra

Om Prakash Gahrotra
Born	Om Prakash Kewalkrishan Gahrotra (1946-09-21) September 21, 1946 Abohar, Punjab, India
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	Panjab University (B.Sc.) Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies – University of Mumbai (M.F.M.) University of Birmingham (M.Sc. Development Finance)
Occupation	Civil servant
Years active	1968–2006
Employer(s)	Government of Maharashtra Government of India
Spouse	Nalini Gahrotra
Children	2
Military career
Allegiance	India
Branch	Indian Army
Years of service	1968–1973
Rank	Captain
Unit	Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
Battles / wars	Indo-Pakistani war of 1971

Om Prakash Gahrotra (born 21 September 1946) is an Indian former civil servant and Indian Army officer. After active service in the Indo‑Pakistani War of 1971, he joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), where he spent more than three decades in senior positions with the Governments of Maharashtra and India. From 1996 to 2001 he was Senior Executive Director at the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), supervising capital‑market reforms such as the dematerialisation of share certificates and the introduction of derivatives trading. Since retiring from government in 2006, Gahrotra has worked as a corporate adviser and independent director.

Early life and education

Gahrotra was born in Abohar in the state of Punjab. His family relocated to India following the partition in 1947. He attended D.A.V. High School, Shimla, and Government High School, Chandigarh, before earning a Bachelor of Science from D.A.V. College, Panjab University. While in the IAS he completed a Master of Financial Management at the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, University of Mumbai (1984), and an M.Sc. in Development Finance at the University of Birmingham (1989).

Military career

Commissioned from the Officers Training School, Madras (now the Officers Training Academy, Chennai) in 1968, Gahrotra joined the Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. He served in the western sector of Jammu and Kashmir during the 1971 Indo‑Pakistani War and retired with the rank of captain.

Civil service career

Gahrotra qualified for the IAS in the 1973 examination and, with credit for his military service, was allotted to the 1969 batch (Maharashtra cadre). He alternated between state, union, and regulatory assignments:

Government of Maharashtra

• Commissioner, Sales Tax Department (1981–1984)
• Managing Director, Maharashtra State Co‑operative Cotton Growers’ Federation (1984–1986)
• Principal Secretary, Finance Department (1994–1996)
• Managing Director, Maharashtra State Textile Corporation (2001–2004)
• Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) (2004–2006)

Government of India

• Joint Chief Controller of Imports and Exports (1984–1986)
• Export Commissioner (1986–1987)
• Joint Secretary, Overseas Investment and Plantation Crops, Ministry of Commerce (1987–1988)

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

As Senior Executive Director (1996–2001), heading the Primary and Secondary Market Departments, Gahrotra oversaw landmark reforms that modernised India’s capital markets, including the shift from paper to electronic share certificates, the adoption of book‑building for initial public offerings, and the launch of exchange‑traded derivatives.

Post‑retirement business career

After retiring from the IAS in 2006, Gahrotra founded Onang Management Advisory Services in Mumbai. He was Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Rewas Port Ltd. (2007–2009) and has served as an independent director of companies such as Kalpataru Ltd., SBI Funds Management, Uttam Galva Steels, the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) and THDC India Limited. He has also advised New Enterprise Associates and Oyster Rock Capital.

Personal life

Gahrotra is married to Nalini Gahrotra, a retired lecturer in English. They have two sons—Alok, a senior managing director at Teneo in London, and Nikhil, a senior managing director at CVC Capital Partners in Mumbai—and four grandchildren.