 Kothari contributed to World War I by investing 2,550,000 rupees or £175,000 in the Third War Loan raised in January 1917, and acting as honorary secretary and treasurer in India for the Imperial War Fund.He performed numerous other honorary duties for the British Government for which he maintained a large staff at his own expense.Kothari was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1918 Birthday Honours, and subsequently knighted in the 1921 Birthday Honours, which was conferred at Buckingham Palace by King George V on 8 July 1922.