He was born in Mumbai in 1923. After receiving a master's degree in economics from the University of Mumbai, he worked as a professor of economics at Sydenham College and also a few other colleges in Mumbai. He was the first principal of well known Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics from 1964-71. Gadgil served as Vice-president and member of the General Council of the Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, from 1988-93. He served as the President of the Mumbai Marathi Sahitya Sangh from 1983-1999. Gadgil was a prolific and multi-faceted writer, with published work in Economics, Literature, Biography, Literary Criticism and Travel Writing. The Library of Congress, South Asian Literary Recordings Project has recordings of his reading from six of his books. They have also acquired sixty-five of his books for their collection.