Former Union finance minister Madhu Dandavate died Saturday at a private hospital in Mumbai after a protracted illness. He was 81.

Dandavate had been admitted to the hospital on October 19, family sources said.

Dandavate's son Uday was at his father's bedside when he breathed his last at around 2000 hours.

Dandavate's wife Pramila, a former member of Parliament, had died on January 1, 2002.

A gentle and erudite politician-scholar, Dandavate had served as Union finance minister in the National Front government under the prime ministership of V P Singh.

Earlier, he was the railway minister in the Janata Party government.

Dandavate is also credited with making the Konkan Railway a reality.

His body will be kept in the Janata Dal office in Mumbai on November 14 to enable party workers to pay their last respects to the departed leader.

Dandavate was associated with the Maharashtra-Karnataka border issue and headed the samiti formed to resolve the row after the death of socialist leader S M Joshi.

Dandavate won five Lok Sabha elections from Rajapur constituency in Konkan region.