About us
Rural Rethink Advisory is led by experienced practitioners working at the intersection of institutional development finance, climate-aligned agriculture and rural finance. The firm brings institutional insight grounded in field experience across rural finance and its connected systems into mandates involving strategy, portfolio design, programme architecture, risk frameworks and capability-building.
We treat all client information, engagement details and advisory work with complete discretion. Nothing is shared without the client's consent.
We do not undertake debt raising, loan placement, grant arrangement or carbon-credit transactions. Our work is advisory, institutional and execution-oriented.
Our advisory practice is ISO 9001:2015 cetified, reflecting a structured and process-driven approach to quality management.
Manoj Kumar Rawat
Founder & CEO
“Three decades across private, multinational, public and Government institutions, portfolios and geographies teaches you things no framework fully captures. I started Rural Rethink Advisory to put that learning to work — with institutions navigating the real complexity of climate-aligned rural and agricultural finance.”
Manoj Kumar Rawat brings nearly three decades of experience across agriculture, rural finance, development finance, commercial banking, NBFCs, rural enterprise finance and institutional programme architecture. He began his career as a Scientist with ISRO before transitioning into agriculture, rural development and financial services — and has since worked across NABARD, Fullerton India, RBL Bank, ValueFin India including IFAD-supported rural finance initiatives.
After senior leadership roles across government, banking and private sector institutions, he chose to focus more directly on the rural and agricultural finance ecosystem, with a current focus on climate-aligned lending, portfolio strategy and institutional capacity building.
About the Founder
Manoj's career spans nearly three decades across research, development finance, commercial banking, NBFCs and international advisory — built through institutions of varied character, mandate and scale.
His work has covered the full arc of rural and agricultural finance — from investment credit and watershed development to portfolio leadership, NBFC entrepreneurship and multilateral programme architecture.
The journey, briefly:
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Started at ISRO as a Scientist/Engineer before transitioning into agriculture, development finance and commercial banking.
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NABARD — 12 years Investment credit, rural infrastructure, irrigation, watershed development, cold chain, warehousing, agri-marketing and post-harvest systems. PMU In-Charge, Indo-German Watershed Development Programme (KfW).
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Fullerton India (Temasek) Built the rural and microfinance business from inception — across remote and semi-urban geographies nationally. Focus: risk management, field operations and technology-enabled delivery.
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RBL Bank Group EVP · Head of Agriculture & Rural Business · Management Committee Member Built agriculture and rural banking at institutional scale across priority sector, dairy, food processing, cold storage, commodity finance, warehouse receipt lending, MSME finance and renewable energy. The bank received Best Priority Sector Bank recognition in India for two consecutive years.
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ValueFin India Bootstrapped and ran an RBI-registered NBFC as Managing Director & CEO. Focus: agriculture value chains, rural enterprises, MSMEs and climate finance.
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IFAD (UN) Senior Consultant & Lead Architect — designing agri-finance accelerator platforms, refinancing facilities and risk-sharing structures in Africa.
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Global Stakeholder Engagement: Throughout his tenure at NABARD and in subsequent leadership roles, he has collaborated with and managed project interests for international development and investment agencies including FAO, GIZ, USAID, CDC, and IFC.
Policy & Industry Leadership
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Advisory: Advised the Government of India on the e-NAM digital agricultural market platform.
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Committees: Served on McKinsey’s Consultative Committee on Agriculture Development and Food Security.
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Governance: Jury Member of the Global Partnership Climate Fund (GCPF) and served on national working committees on FPOs and agribusiness development.
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Recognition: Recognized among the 25 Best Rural Banking Professionals and 50 Most Influential Rural Leaders in India.
Education & Credentials
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Manoj is a B.Tech Gold Medalist from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, holds an M.E. in Water Resources Engineering and an MBA in Finance. He is a CAIIB and Certified Independent Director (IICA). His executive learning includes programmes from Cornell University, Wharton, Oxford Saïd Business School, IIM Ahmedabad and IBM, spanning leadership, ESG, sustainable finance and AI for business.
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He is the author of Carbon Credit: A Beginner's Guide — Demystifying the Carbon Economy, and writes on rural finance, agriculture and climate finance at www.manojrawat.com.
Our Team
Our Practice. Our People.
Rural Rethink Advisory LLP brings together senior practitioners from across the rural and agricultural finance ecosystem — and we are building with purpose.
We launched with a clear conviction: that climate-aligned agriculture and rural finance needs fresh thinking alongside accumulated wisdom.
Practitioners-Led Platform
Our associates bring working knowledge from rural and cooperative banking, development finance, microfinance, agribusiness, insurance, climate finance, data sciences, remote sensing, digital lending, AI systems and policy advisory — across India and emerging markets.
The Intersection of Depth and Innovation
Decades of ground-level experience in rural banking and agricultural finance — combined with current capability in climate risk analytics and digital finance systems. That combination is what we bring to every engagement.
A Growing Network
We are actively expanding our network of associates and domain specialists who share one purpose: to bring rigorous, implementation-ready thinking to rural and agricultural finance — for institutions, for value chains, and for the communities they serve.
Our Commitment
Every engagement is senior-led, context-sensitive, and designed for outcomes that hold well beyond our time on the assignment.
Connect & Collaborate · Lead With Us
Rural Rethink Advisory LLP welcomes professionals, practitioners, researchers, policy specialists, development finance experts, agribusiness leaders and others interested in working, collaborating and contributing across this sector — whether through advisory work, knowledge-sharing, mentoring or domain engagement.
If this area of work resonates with you, we would be glad to connect.
+91 90820 57400