[3] Following his departure from the position of professor at Harvard in 1971, Benninger came to Ahmedabad, where he was appointed a Ford Foundation advisor to the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology.

Alongside architecture, Benninger is most identified with developing the Site and Services Model which was originally conceived as his thesis at Harvard GSD and his planning theory Principles of Intelligent Urbanism.

Benninger studied development economics under John Kenneth Galbraith, past ambassador to India and author of The New Industrial State.

He continued his post-graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, under Horacio Caminos, working on the book Urban Dwelling Environments.

[13] In 1971, Benninger returned to India as a Ford Foundation consultant to the Ahmedabad Education Society to help set up the School of Planning in 1972 along with Yoginder Alagh and B.V.

One of Benninger's first projects was an Economically Weaker Section (EWS) township in Jamnagar developed with the Gujarat Housing Board in 1972.

[22] As a World Bank consultant, Benninger planned out the site and services, core housing, and slum upgradation programmes for the Calcutta Metropolitan Development in 1974.

[16] He was engaged by the UNCHS to develop plans for six cities in Sri Lanka: Jafna, Ratnapura, Kalutara, Hambantota, Galle, and Matara.

[26] In 1986, Benninger worked on the development plan for Thane and Kalyan with a focus on urban management and poverty upliftment.

[33] He was a member of the Mumbai Port Trust Land Development Committee [34] and the head of the jury for the design and construction India's National War Memorial, appointed by the Ministry of Defence.

[38] Christopher Benninger spent his significant part of his life with his long term companion Ramprasad Akkisetti since 1993.

Ramprasad Akkisetti was instrumental in  the realisation of Benninger's quest for avant garde architecture and literary contribution.