Gangadharan joined the
Reserve Bank of India as a Grade-B Officer. He worked in the field of banking supervision, foreign exchange management and
financial market regulation. He was a member of faculty at the Bankers Training College, Mumbai. He also worked with
Central Bank of Oman for five years. In the year 2006 he became Chief General Manager of the Foreign Exchange Department of RBI. In March 2011, he was appointed as Regional Director for
West Bengal, Sikkim, and
Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Member Secretary of the Eastern Local Board of the RBI. In April 2012 he was appointed as Regional Director for the State of Kerala and Lakshadweep. Subsequently, he was elevated to the post of Principal Chief General Manager. Gangadharan joined
South Indian Bank as an independent director in January 2014. Later that year he took over from Amitabha Guha as non-executive Chairman of the bank. ==Major contributions==