Suresh Prabhu

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Suresh Prabhu
Suresh Prabhu, former MP and Union Minister, speaking at an event.
Suresh Prabhu
Indian emissary to the G20 & G7
In office
24 June 2019 – 7 September 2021
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byShaktikanta Das
Succeeded byPiyush Goyal
Minister of Civil Aviation, Government of India
In office
12 March 2018 – 30 May 2019
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byAshok Gajapathi Raju
Succeeded byHardeep Singh Puri
Minister of Commerce and Industry, Government of India
In office
3 September 2017 – 30 May 2019
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byNirmala Sitharaman
Succeeded byPiyush Goyal
Minister of Railways, Government of India
In office
9 November 2014 – 3 September 2017
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byD. V. Sadananda Gowda
Succeeded byPiyush Goyal
Minister of Power, Government of India
In office
30 September 2000 – 25 August 2002
Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded byRangarajan Kumaramangalam
Succeeded byAnant Geete
Minister of Fertilizers & Chemicals, Government of India
In office
13 October 1999 – 29 September 2000
Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded byOffice raised to Cabinet rank
Succeeded bySunder Lal Patwa
Minister of Environment and Forests, Government of India
In office
19 March 1998 – 13 October 1999
Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded bySaifuddin Soz
Succeeded byT.R. Baalu
Minister of Industry, Government of India
In office
16 May 1996 – 1 June 1996
Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded byK. Karunakaran
Succeeded byMurasoli Maran
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
15 May 1996 – 18 May 2009
Preceded bySudhir Sawant
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
ConstituencyRajapur
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office
22 June 2016 – 21 June 2022
Preceded byNirmala Sitharaman
Succeeded byR. Krishnaiah
ConstituencyAndhra Pradesh
In office
29 November 2014 – 21 June 2016
Preceded byRanbir Singh Parjapati
Succeeded byDr. Subhash Chandra
ConstituencyHaryana
Chairperson, Task Force for Interlinking of Rivers
In office
2002–2004
Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee
Personal details
Born
Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu

(1953-07-11) 11 July 1953 (age 71)
Bombay, Bombay State (present day Maharashtra), India
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
(since 2014)
Other political
affiliations		Shiv Sena (before 2014)
Spouse
Uma Prabhu
​
(m. 1984)​
Children1
Residence(s)Mumbai, Maharashtra
Alma mater
Profession
Websitewww.sureshprabhu.in

Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu (born 11 July 1953) is an Indian politician. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1996 to 2009, representing Rajapur in the Lok Sabha. He was also a member of the Rajya Sabha, representing Andhra Pradesh and Haryana from 2014 to 2022.[3][4] He held several ministerial portfolios in the Union Government, including Ministry of Civil Aviation, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Minister of Railways, Minister of Fertilizers & Chemicals, and Minister of Environment and Forests. He is the current chancellor of Rishihood University and chairman of the Indian Chamber of Food and Agriculture (ICFA).[5]

Prabhu was appointed to the Bloomberg New Economy Advisory Board as the only representative from India.[6]

He worked in the Global Advisory Council of the World Economic Forum.[7]

Education and career

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Suresh Prabhu is a chartered accountant (CA) by profession. He qualified as a CA in 1977, securing the ninth rank in India.[8] He attended Sharad Ashram Vidyamandir, Dadar, Mumbai for schooling. He earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree with Honours from M. L. Dahanukar College, Vile Parle, Mumbai, and a Bachelor of Law degree from the New Law College (Ruparel College campus), Mumbai.[9]

Political career

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Prabhu held ministerial positions during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government (1998–2004). His first portfolio was Minister of Industry.[10]

Prabhu served as Minister of Environment and Forests from 9 March 1998 to 13 October 1999 under the Vajpayee government.[10] During this period, initiatives included developing bamboo resources, drafting the Biological Diversity Act, preparing the National Environment Action Plan, and finalizing various waste management rules.[11]

He held the Ministry of Fertilizers and Chemicals from 1999 to 2000.[12] He worked on policies for the fertilizers, pharma, petrochemicals, and chemicals sectors.[11]

He served as Minister of Power from 2000 to 2004.[13] The Electricity Act of 2003 was enacted during his tenure.[14] Reforms made under his ministry encouraged the people to set up their business without being dependent on captive power generation.[15]

Prabhu was appointed Chairperson of the Task Force for Interlinking of Rivers under the Vajpayee government.[16]

In the first term of the Narendra Modi government, Suresh Prabhu was appointed Minister of Railways but resigned in 2017 following train accidents.[17][18] In January 2016, the World Bank invited Prabhu to speak on the role of transport and cities in achieving climate goals.[19]

He served as Minister of Commerce and Industry from 2017 to 2019.[20] For the control of child trafficking, Mr Prabhu launched an app called ReUnite to track the abandoned and missing children.[21] Also visited Russia to participate in “Timber in the Far East-Increasing Industry’s Economic Return” and talked about India-Russia ties with Russian minister Dmitry Kobylkin, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Russian Federation and Governors, Vice Governors and representatives of regions.[22]

In the final period of the first term of the Narendra Modi government, he served as Minister of Civil Aviation.[23] Under his ministry, Mr. Prabhu laid the foundation for seven new airports across the country.[24]

Awards and recognition

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On 18 August 2016, Prabhu received the Goud Saraswat Brahmin Samaj Maharatha Award.[25][26] Media surveys between 2014 and 2017 reportedly ranked him among the top performing ministers.[27][28] In 2024, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Economic Policy Group (EPG).[29]

Social work and interests

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  • Founder and trustee of Manav Sadhan Vikas Sansthan, an NGO.[30]
  • Formed CoOperative Development Forum (CDF) for the promotion of cooperative movement in the country.[31]

Controversies

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Suresh Prabhu has been associated with several controversies, including:

References

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  1. ^ "Suresh Prabhu joins Rishihood University as the Founding Chancellor". 4 July 2020. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  2. ^ "Suresh Prabhu appointed as Visiting Professor in Practice". LSE. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Suresh Prabhu files nomination for Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh". The Economic Times.
  4. ^ "Suresh Prabhu, Birender Singh to be in Rajya Sabha from Haryana".
  5. ^ Pandey, Ashish (28 April 2025). "India-US trade deal: PM Modi will never compromise interests of our farmers, says Suresh Prabhu". The Economic Times.
  6. ^ "Ex-Minister Suresh Prabhu Only Indian On Bloomberg New Economy Advisory Board". www.ndtv.com.
  7. ^ "Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu". World Economic Forum.
  8. ^ "Suresh Prabhu". Rishihood University, Delhi NCR. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
  9. ^ "Wayback Machine" (PDF). iimranchi.ac.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 August 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
  10. ^ a b "Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu Takes Over as Minister of Railways". pib.gov.in/. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  11. ^ a b "A brief bio sketch of Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Hon'ble Minister for Railways" (PDF).
  12. ^ S, Sharadchandran (20 September 2018). "When a minister came to my birthday party". The New Indian Express.
  13. ^ Ramaseshan, Radhika. "Alice' in pants who kept growing". Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  14. ^ "Suresh Prabhu". Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation.
  15. ^ "Interview with Suresh Prabhu: "Learn lessons from power sector reforms"". Power Line Magazine. 30 September 2021.
  16. ^ "Inter-linking of rivers within 7-10 years: Uma Bharti". The Times of India. 18 October 2014.
  17. ^ "10 things you didn't know about Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu". India Today. 26 February 2015.
  18. ^ "Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu announces new terminus near Kalyan". The Indian Express. 19 December 2016.
  19. ^ "Press Information Bureau Government of India Ministry of Railways". pib.gov.in.
  20. ^ Correspondent, Special (4 November 2017). "Nirmala and three other Ministers must quit: Congress". The Hindu. {{cite news}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  21. ^ "Suresh Prabhu launches Mobile App 'ReUnite'". pib.gov.in.
  22. ^ Bureau, Press Information. "Press Information Bureau Government of India Ministry of Commerce & Industry". {{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  23. ^ "Suresh Prabhu gets additional charge of Civil Aviation Ministry". The Statesman. 10 March 2018.
  24. ^ Bharat, E. T. V. (22 February 2019). "Govt to finalise regulations for drones: Suresh Prabhu". ETV Bharat News.
  25. ^ "Rly. Minister Suresh Prabhu gets Maharatha Award", The Hindu, 19 August 2016
  26. ^ "GSB Maharatna Award for Suresh Prabhu", The Times of India, 19 August 2016
  27. ^ ABP News Bureau, ABP News Bureau. "Achche din? Report card of PM Modi's top 5 performing ministers". Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  28. ^ "Who are the Best performing ministers in the Narendra Modi government ? - Indian Youth". Indian Youth. 6 April 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  29. ^ EPG (8 March 2024). "Sadiq Khan, Oliver Dowden, Angela Rayner top the poll at Awards". EPG Economic and Strategy Consulting. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  30. ^ "Manav Sadhan Vikas Sanstha".
  31. ^ "Former Union minister Suresh Prabhu to head forum for promoting cooperative movement". The Economic Times. 30 June 2020.
  32. ^ Jog, Sanjay (21 January 2013). "What the Adarsh scam is about..." Business Standard. Mumbai. Archived from the original on 13 September 2024. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  33. ^ Jog, Sanjay (4 January 2014). "What the Adarsh scam is about..." Business Standard. Mumbai. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  34. ^ PTI (2 November 2010). "Former Union minister Suresh Prabhu denies involvement in Adarsh scam". DNA India. Mumbai. Archived from the original on 2 October 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  35. ^ BT Investigation (9 September 2011). "Trapped in the Forest Fire". Business Today. Mumbai. Archived from the original on 15 April 2024. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  36. ^ Hakim, Sharmeen. "Discharge plea of ex-sherif rejected". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  37. ^ Outlook Web Desk (6 February 2022). "Beneficiaries All". Outlook India. New Delhi. Archived from the original on 13 September 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
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