Sir R. K. Shanmukham Chetty was born in 1892.He belonged to a Tamil merchant family.He did his graduation from Madras Christian College.He was associated with Justice Party for few days.He was also the member of Swarajya Party.In 1929 R. K. Shanmukham Chetty attended the ILO meeting as the Indian representative.

Sir R. K. Shanmukham Chetty was selected as the member of Central Legislative Assembly in the year 1923.He represented India in the League of Nations in Geneva.In 1944 he attended the World Monetary Conference.In 1946 R. K. Shanmukham Chetty was selected as the member of Constituent Assembly of India.After independence he was appointed as the Finance Minister in Nehru`s cabinet.After few days he resigned from the post.In 1952 R. K. Shanmukham Chetty was elected as the member of the Madras Legislative Council.He worked as the Diwan of Cochin State from 1931 to 1945. In this capacity he contributed a lot to develop and modernise this state. R. K. Shanmukham Chetty was the founder President of The Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry,Coimbatore.