Mr. ‎Sudhakar Rao, IAS (Retd.)

Sudhakar Rao is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1973 Karnataka cadre with over four decades of experience in public administration, economic policy, infrastructure, power-sector governance, and international affairs.

He holds an M.A. in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics and a Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) from Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University.

Over the course of his career, he held senior & key positions in both the Government of Karnataka and the Government of India. In Karnataka, after his initial field posting at the district level, he served as Chairman and Managing Director of the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC), Principal Secretary–Finance, Principal Secretary–Home, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Development Commissioner, and ultimately Chief Secretary of Karnataka. In the Government of India, he worked in the Ministry of Power, Ministry of Finance, and in the Prime Minister’s Office. He also served for four years as Minister (Economic) at the Embassy of India in Washington, D.C.

After superannuating from government service in 2009, he served as a Member of the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB), Government of India. He subsequently took on leadership and board roles in the corporate and institutional sectors, as an independent director on the boards of several major organisations.

Areas of Expertise: His areas of expertise include public administration, economic and fiscal policy, public finance, power-sector governance, infrastructure and urban development, international economic affairs, public-sector management, and institutional governance.

Key Contributions / Achievements:

He was conferred the Kannada Rajyotsava Award in the Public Service category by the Government of Karnataka on 1 November 2010, in recognition of his contributions to public service.