Deshpande’s career has been chronicled in a biography 'Indomitable spirit,' by academic R V Hegde, an expert on the culture of Indian politics. The event was put together by Deshpande's sons Prashant and Prasad.

Mohandas Pai, Director of Infosys Limited, hailed Deshpande for pushing for the growth of the IT industry 15 years ago, which had resulted in creation of 6.5 lakh jobs as on date and exports worth Rs one lakh crore this year.

"He had a huge vision to develop Karnataka and he reached out to the industries at the right time, developing IT and BT hubs successfully. He deserves the title, Father of IT in Karnataka,” Pai said.    

Non-executive Chairman of Infosys Limited K V Kamat said Deshpande was an "emperor of thought," because of his vision for industrialisation and development.

Spiritual guru Sri Ravi Shankar said by pushing for development of Bangalore, Deshpande had made India proud.