Otto Koenigsberger (1908-1999) is best known for his pioneering work in the fields of tropical architecture and development planning, which he conducted from his base at the Architectural Association and later at the Development Planning Unit of the University College London. However, as part of an effort to revise the accepted histories of those two fields, this paper focuses on the planning projects Koenigsberger worked on during the lesser-known and formative part of his career in exile in India from 1939-1951. In addition to providing an overview of Koenigsberger’s planning work in India, from the Bhadravati and Bangalore development plans of the early 1940s to Jamshedpur (1946) and Bhubaneswar (1948) as well as Faridabad (1949) and Gandhidam (1950), this paper investigates the role of the client in the development of planning concepts and in the advancement of Koenigsberger’s career. In particular, I compare the roles played by the Government of Mysore, the influential industrial concern Tata & Sons, and the Federal Government of India. I  frame this analysis with a brief introduction to and assessment of the methodological potential of network visualisation software (in this case Gephi) for research into historical networks. While examining how Koenigsberger adapted modernist planning ideas, such as the band town principle and the neighbourhood unit, to the Indian context, the paper also illustrates how his confrontations and interactions with foreign, rapidly urbanising cultures led to significant shifts in his approach to planning. These include his rejection of the static master plan and the realisation that the supposedly universally applicable Western modern planning concepts were largely obsolete in the context of the developing world, where local problems demanded locally sourced solutions. Furthermore, the paper reveals Koenigsberger’s commitment to improving the living conditions of women and children, creating heterogeneous communities, and facilitating the participation of the inhabitants in the planning process, as well as his efforts towards establishing an educational and institutional planning infrastructure, and developing a planning consciousness within the emerging independent nation.