How Can We Help?
< Back

Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu (born 11 July 1953) is an Indian politician and chancellor of Rishihood University. He has served as the[3] Minister of Civil Aviation, Railways, Commerce & Industry in the First Modi ministry.[4]

He is a Chartered Accountant by profession and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). From 1996, Prabhu retained the seat as a Member of Parliament for the Rajapur Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra as a member of the Shiv Sena (SS) political party. He resigned from Shiv Sena and joined the BJP on 9 November 2014. Since June 2016, he has represented Andhra Pradesh and Haryana in the Rajya Sabha.[5][6] He is also the founding Chancellor of Rishihood University.[7] He is also a visiting professor at London School of Economics.[2] He is also a chairman of National Cooperative Policy.[8]

Education and career

Suresh Prabhu completed his schooling from Sharadashram Vidya Mandir, Dadar, Mumbai, followed by a Bachelor in Commerce with Honours from M. L. Dahanukar College, Vile Parle, Mumbai.[9] He received a Bachelor in Law degree from the New Law College (Ruparel College campus), Mumbai.[10] Prabhu is a Chartered Accountant and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He was All India 11th (eleventh) rank holder in CA exams.[9][11][12]

Prabhu has held several government and semi government positions, which includes the Chairmanship of Maharashtra State Finance Commission, Saraswat Co-operative Bank, National Cooperation Policy[13] Member of the Maharashtra Tourism Development Board, among others. He is a part of 16 global organizations and 9 strategic dialogues which include:

Currently, he is a member of the Board of Advisors of India's International Movement to Unite Nations (I.I.M.U.N.).[14] He is a chairman of the National Cooperative Policy[15]

Early political career

He was, at various times during the Premiership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee from 1998 to 2004, Industry Minister, Minister of Environment and Forests, Minister of Fertilizers & Chemicals, Power, Railways, Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation. He has been a Member of Lok Sabha in the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th Lok Sabha between 1996 and 2009. His constituency comprised the district of Sindhudurg and parts of Ratnagiri district in the state of Maharashtra on the western coast of India. He was also a Member of Rajya Sabha representing Haryana and Andhra Pradesh.[16][17]

Union Cabinet Minister

Union Minister for Industry (1996)

As Industries Minister, brought about greater transparency in functioning and fuel clearance of pending works.[18]

Union Minister For Environment and Forests (1998-99)

Union Power Minister (2000-02)

As the Union Minister for Power, he won praise for his performance from The Indian Express.[19] As Minister of Power, he ushered in transformational policies in Power sector with thrust on rural-electrification, T&D reforms; encouraged big ticket investments and batted for Sustainable Power Development, etc.

Chairperson, Task Force for Interlinking of Rivers (2002-04)

Union Railway Minister (2014-17)

Prabhu taking charge as the Union Minister for Railways, in New Delhi on 10 November 2014

On 9 November 2014, he was sworn in as Cabinet minister in the Narendra Modi government. He was the Union Railway Minister of India from November 2014 to September 2017.[20][21]

Union Commerce & Industry Minister (2017-19)

Prabhu taking charge as the Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, in New Delhi on 4 September 2017

He has been the minister of Commerce and Industry since September 2017. He was elected as Rajya Sabha member from the state of Andhra Pradesh on 3 June 2016.[22] During his tenure, he took several steps to boost manufacturing in India. Details of few major reforms are as under:

Union Civil Aviation Minister (2018-19)

Policy Making

Initiator of Investments in Aviation

Awards and recognition

In 2024, Suresh Prabhu won and accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award at EPG's 16th Annual Political & Public Life Awards at the House of Commons.[23]

Suresh Prabhu received the Goud Saraswat Brahmin Samaj Maharatha Award on 18 August 2016.[24][25]

He has constantly featured in the list of top five ministers in India from 2014 to 2017 in terms of both performance and accessibility in nationwide surveys conducted by various institutions.[26][27]

  • Awarded 'Indian of the Year 2017.[28]
  • Declared "Best Member of Parliament in 13th Lok Sabha" in April 2004 by Aaj Tak, a leading TV Channel in India.
  • Featured amongst top three Indian leaders of the future in the cover story, "Giant on the Move" (Sept 2000 issue) of the Hong Kong-based Asiaweek Magazine.
  • Ranked as the 2nd best performing Minister in India Today's report (dated 27 August 2001) on the performance of key ministers of Government of India.

Published works

  • "Students' Unrest" at the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management, Mumbai.
  • "Causes and Consequences of Mass Unemployment of Youths" at the Central Committee for International Voluntary Services (CCIVS), UNESCO, Paris.
  • "Problems of Youth in Third World Countries" at CCIVS, Monrovia (Liberia).
  • "North-South Co-operation", paper read at an international seminar at New Delhi on behalf of Bharat Sevak Samaj.
  • "Contribution of NGO's Towards Peace" - Asian Youth Seminar, New Delhi.
  • Has published several columns on finance and economy in the daily "Mid-Day" as well as articles in leading Marathi dailies.
  • He has written extensively on socio-economic issues.

Social Work and interests

See also

References

  1. ^ Business Standard (4 July 2020). "Suresh Prabhu joins Rishihood University as the Founding Chancellor". Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022. {{cite news}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  2. ^ a b "Suresh Prabhu appointed as Visiting Professor in Practice". LSE. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Suresh Prabhu appointed PM Modi's Sherpa for G20- Business News". www.businesstoday.in. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  4. ^ Portfolios of the Union Council of Ministers Prime Minister's Office, Government of India
  5. ^ "Suresh Prabhu files nomination for Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh". The Economic Times.
  6. ^ "Suresh Prabhu, Birender Singh to be in Rajya Sabha from Haryana".
  7. ^ "Suresh Prabhu joins Rishihood University as the Founding Chancellor". 4 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Suresh Prabhu to draft new national co-op policy". The Times of India. 7 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  9. ^ a b Suresh Prabhu Biodata Archived 11 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine India, Accessed on 10 November 2014
  10. ^ Layak, Suman (10 July 2016), "Cabinet reshuffle: Modi government's got talent but is it being fully utilised?", The Economic Times
  11. ^ "Shri. Suresh P. Prabhu". Zee News. 15 June 2010.
  12. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. ^ "Suresh Prabhu to head panel to draft National Cooperation Policy". The Hindu. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  14. ^ "I.I.M.U.N. || Board of Advisors". new.iimun.in. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  15. ^ "47-member panel led by Suresh Prabhu to draft new national co-op policy". The Times of India. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  16. ^ "Suresh Prabhu set to be re-elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha". The Economic Times. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  17. ^ "Suresh Prabhu takes oath in Rajya Sabha". ZEE News. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  18. ^ Ministry of Commerce and Industry (India)
  19. ^ Suresh Prabhu returns to the Cabinet Indian Express (9 November 2014)
  20. ^ Suresh Prabhu says PM wants condition of railways to change, Parrikar seeks time to get going The Times of India (10 November 2014)
  21. ^ "Modi Cabinet reshuffle: Full list of new council of ministers", The Times of India, 3 September 2017
  22. ^ PTI (3 June 2016). "Suresh Prabhu, Piyush Goyal, P. Chidambaram elected to Rajya Sabha". www.livemint.com/. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  23. ^ EPG (8 March 2024). "Sadiq Khan, Oliver Dowden, Angela Rayner top the poll at Awards". EPG Economic and Strategy Consulting. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  24. ^ "Rly. Minister Suresh Prabhu gets Maharatha Award", The Hindu, 19 August 2016
  25. ^ "GSB Maharatna Award for Suresh Prabhu", The Times of India, 19 August 2016
  26. ^ Bureau, ABP News. "Achche din? Report card of PM Modi's top 5 performing ministers". Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  27. ^ "Who are the Best performing ministers in the Narendra Modi government ? - Indian Youth". Indian Youth. 6 April 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  28. ^ "Coming Soon". www.brandsacademyindia.com.
  29. ^ "Manav Sadhan Vikas Sanstha".
  30. ^ "Governing Council".

External links

Categories
Table of Contents