[1] He was also involved in the planning process for the establishment of the Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai and served as its third director, for a period of 4 years.

[2] Kelkar was instrumental in securing USA's technical collaboration in the establishment of IIT Kanpur, by persuading the then USA ambassador, John Kenneth Galbraith to locate the fledgeling institution on the outskirts of Kanpur, in North India.

In 1943, he accepted the post of Professor and Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute in Mumbai (VJTI), where he continued until 1956.

IIT Bombay was to be set up with financial and academic assistance from the USSR, mediated by the UNESCO.

[5]When Kelkar moved to IIT Kanpur in 1959 as its first director, he set about infusing that institute with the same characteristics: accomplished faculty from diverse schools of thought, and a healthy curricular presence for the sciences and the humanities.

According to a book on IIT Kanpur's history, Prof. Kelkar's influence helped IITK in ‘breaking out from the dark clouds of traditional systems in technical education’.

[5] After a completing his tenure at Kanpur, Dr. Kelkar returned to Mumbai as the 2nd director of IIT Bombay from 1970 to 1974.

[5] The Kelkar Alumni Lecture was also instituted in recognition to a person who had made distinct contribution to the technical education in India through building and developing IIT Kanpur.