[7] In 1912, Deshmukh passed the Matriculation Examination of the University of Bombay with record marks and secured the first Jagannath Shankarseth Scholarship in Sanskrit.

[11][12] He also served briefly as Joint Secretary to Government of India in the departments of education and health and was Custodian of Enemy Property.

[29] Following Partition, the division of income tax revenue and jute export duty between the Union government and the states of India had to be decided based on the changed geographical realities.

The Deshmukh Award, which was effected in 1950, factored in population in deciding the division of revenue and recommended grants in aid for various states and remained in force until April 1952.

[38] Deshmukh was also chairman of a panel of economists that recommended the proposed Second Five Year Plan with its capital intensive model of development.

He envisioned a significant role for the village and cottage industries in curbing unemployment and inflation caused by deficit financing and got the Congress Working Committee to approve the draft plan.

[43][44][45] In 1952 Deshmukh invited Paul Appleby to study Indian administration and Appleby's reports led to the establishment of the Organisation and Management Organisation in the Government of India and the establishment of the Indian Institute of Public Administration of which Deshmukh later became vice president and chairman.

This was undertaken on the recommendation of the All-India Rural Credit Survey Committee although Deshmukh had been opposed to plans for nationalising the bank when he was the RBI Governor.

[55][56] Shortly after his resignation from the Cabinet, Deshmukh was appointed Chairman of India's University Grants Commission in 1956, a post he held until 1961.

[57][58][59] Deshmukh, who was the first chairman of the commission after it became a statutory body, played a key role in the development of university libraries during his tenure.

[63] Deshmukh contested the Indian presidential election of 1969 as a candidate of the Swatantra Party and the Jana Sangh and won the third-highest number of first preference votes.

[74][75] In 1959, Deshmukh was a co-recipient (along with Jose Aguilar of the Philippines[76]) of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for distinguished Government Service.

Jesus College, Cambridge, Deshmukh's alma mater, elected him its Honorary Fellow in 1952 in recognition of his distinguished contribution in the areas of Indian and international finance and administration.

[79][80][81] The Thane Municipal Corporation established the Chintamanrao Deshmukh Institute for Administrative Careers in 1987, to prepare the youth to enter the civil services.