He was for seventeen years a member of both the arts committee of the Maharashtra state Board of Literature and Culture, and of the University of Mumbai.
Deshpande is the author of 'Maharashtra's Contribution to Music' (Maharashtra Information Center, New Delhi, 1972).
His Marathi book Gharandaj Gayaki (1961) won the Maharashtra State Award for the best work in aesthetic criticism in 1962.
His second book, Alapini (1979), also received the Maharashtra State Award,[citation needed] and has been translated into a number of languages, including English, under the title Between two tanpuras.
Deshpande has also written articles on musical subjects in Marathi and English and presented many papers at seminars and conferences.