He was Director - General of NCAER (National Council of Applied Economic Research). As the first Chairman of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission he established it as an expert and independent agency. He has written or edited fourteen books, many papers and hundreds of articles. Among his earlier books are Successful Negotiation (1994), Indian Market Demographics - the consuming classes (1996), and Elephants Can’t Dance - Managing in a Reforming Economy (2001), Governing Power (2004). He is on the Boards of companies (like Reliance Energy, Honeywell Automation India Limited), Institutes for research and management (like IIM Lucknow, National Institute for Health and Family Welfare, Research and Information Systems for developing economies), and not - fo - profit organizations (like Aga Khan Foundation of India, Madras Craft Foundation, Sanskriti Foundation).
Present Positions
- Distinguished Fellow, The Energy And Resources Institute (TERI)
- Columnist: Telegraph, Deccan Herald
On the Board of Directors at
- Honeywell Automation India Limited, Pune.
- Kanoria Chemicals & Industries Ltd
- RAIN CII Carbon Limited
- Reliance Infrastructure Limited
- Reliance Power Limited
- Trustcap Private Limited., Bombay
- Insight Alpha Private limited
- RPower Trustee Company Private Limited
Institutional Boards/Trusts
- Institute for Social and Economic Change
- Aga Khan Foundation, India Committee.
- Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow.
- Bangalore Chamber of Commerce and Industry: Member, Energy Committee.
- Chairman of the Academic Council and Member of Board of Governors, Institute for Integrated Learning in Management
- Member, State Advisory Committee, Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission
- Member, State Advisory Committee, Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission
- Member, Council of Management, All India Management Association
Trustee
- Madras Crafts Foundation
- CIRC-CUTS Institute of Regulation and Competition, Jaipur.
- Bangalore International Centre.
Editorial Advisory Board
1) International Journal of Regulation and governance, TERI
2) Journal of Management and Entrepreneurship, Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship
Past Membership
Institutional Boards
Bhartidasan Institute of Management, Tiruchy; Executive Committee, FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry); Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore; Advisory Board, Centre for Policy Studies, IIM Bangalore; Management Development Institute, Gurgaon; Founder-Chairman, Forum of Indian Regulators from 1998-2002; Advisory Board, TERI, Delhi; Founder Trustee, Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group, Chennai; Trustee, Consumer Education & Research Centre, Ahmedabad; Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Delhi; Chairman, Board of Studies, Centre for Management Education, All India Management Association, Delhi; RIS- Research and Information Systems for Non-Aligned and Developing Countries, Delhi; FAIR, Foundation to Aid Industrial Recovery; National Institute of Health & Family Welfare, Delhi; Association of Leasing and Financial Services Companies, Bombay; Sanskriti Foundation, Delhi; Chairman, Academic Advisory Council, IMI, Delhi, Chairman, Board of Governors, Institute for Social and Economic Change.
Advisory Boards/Committees
Chairman, Editorial Advisory Board, “Indian Management”, AIMA; . Advisory Committee on Market Studies/Research Projects -Competition Commission of India; Executive Committee, Energy, National Commodities & Derivatives Exchange Limited; Research Advisory Council, University of Pennsylvania Institute for the Advanced Study of India, Delhi.; Chairman, Task Force on Infrastructure and Mega Projects, Commission on Centre State Relations, Government of India.
On the Board of Directors at
Manufacturing
Excel Glasses Ltd, Alleppey; Trac Industries and Components Ltd, Madras; Rane Engine Valves Limited, Madras; Reed Relays and Electronics Limited. Madras; Vera Laboratories Ltd, Hyderabad; Koshika Telecom Ltd, Delhi; Jindal Strips Ltd, Delhi, HEG Ltd. Noida-Delhi; Uttaranchal Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd; Rain Calcining Limited, Hyderabad; Senergy (Global) India Private Limited; Reliance Natural Resources Ltd.
Financial Services
Industrial Finance Corporation of India, Ltd; SBI Asset Management Company, Ltd; Advisory Board, ANZ Grindlays Bank. (Chairman), Axis Private Equity Limited
Academic Qualifications
- Bachelor of Commerce, Bombay University, 1954.
- Master of Arts (Economics), Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University (1956).
Employment Record
- 1956: Research Assistant, Second Finance Commission.
- 1956-57: Lecturer, Delhi College, Delhi University.
- 1957: Case Method Research Investigator, Faculty of Business Administration, Delhi School of Economics.
- 1957-68: Hindustan Lever Limited and Lever Brothers & Associates, U.K., in Sales and Marketing Management; Last position-Export Manager, Hindustan Lever Ltd.
- 1968-74: Warner Hindustan Ltd-last position, Corporate Marketing Director for Consumer, Ethical and Chemical Products, Exports and Medical Services.
- 1974-85: Mettur Beardsell Ltd., Director and, Chairman of two subsidiary companies.
- 1985-88: Chairman, Management and Marketing Services, (Management Consultancy)
- 1988-90: Executive Chairman, National Management Programme, Gurgaon, for mid-career government and industry officers and managers, offered by MDI, four IIM’s and XLRI.
- 1990-96: Director-General, National Council of Applied Economic Research, Delhi.
- 1998-2001: (First) Chairman, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission.
Part-Time Positions
1996-98:
- Advisor, Business India Group.
- Columnist in ‘Economic Times’ from 1992 to 2005; Financial Express in 2004; in ‘PowerLine’, ‘Tehelka’, ‘The Week’; in 1970’s in ‘Himmat’;
- Honorary Professor, Centre for Policy Research, Delhi.
- Visiting Fellow, Indian Ocean Centre, Perth, Australia. (1998 to 2001)
- First Ford Public affairs Fellow, Public Affairs Centre, Bangalore, March to September 2003
- Consultant, R & Pm Ltd., (leading public relations company), Bombay, 1996 to 1998 and 2001 to 2006).
- Anchor, in “Cross-Fire”, a DoorDarshan national television programme-1997-98.
- Teaching: Between 1970 and 1988 at different times-Visiting Professor of Marketing at Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management, Bombay, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore. Between 1988 and 1990, Professor at MDI, Gurgaon; Course
- Director, Advanced Management Programme, All India Management Association 1998-2001
Distinguished Visiting Fellow, The Energy Resources Institute, (TERI), Delhi (1996 to 1998 and 2001 to 2009).
Books
- Economic Reforms and Indian Markets, A.H. Wheeler and Company Ltd., Delhi-1992.
- Successful Negotiation, A.H. Wheeler and Company Ltd., Delhi-1994.
- Consumer Market Demographics in India-NCAER-1993.
- Markets for Consumer Products in India, Global Business Press, Delhi-1994.
- Economy and Business in India under Reforms, Konark Publishers, Delhi-1996.
- Indian Market Demographics-The Consumer Classes, Global Business Press, Delhi-1996, co-authored with I. Natarajan.
- Reforming State-Owned Enterprises (edited), NCAER-1996.
- Elephants Can't Dance-Managing in a Reforming Economy, Global Business Press, Delhi-2001.
- (Editor) Partial Memoirs of VKRV Rao, Oxford University Press, Delhi.(December 2001).
- "Governing Power", TERI Press, April 2004
- Negotiation made simple, Excel Books, 2005.
- Management Education in India (Edited). All India Management Association, Excel Books, 2005.
- "From Servants to Masters? The evolution of Professional Management in India", Global Business Press, February 2007.
- (Editor, with others) “A Passionate Humanitarian; V K R V Rao, 2009
Papers published by
Indian Ocean Centre, Perth
- Political Economy of Reform in India -1996;
- Private Sector and Consumer Products in India-1997
NCAER
- Industry and Economic Reforms (1991-94), Sep ’94;
- Budget 1994-95 and 1995-96;
- Investment in India since Liberalzation;
- Industry and Economic Reforms, 1991-94;
- with R Venkatesan-Restructuring of State Level Public Enterprises in Rajasthan;
- with I Natarajan, Markets for Consumer Products in India, Sep 1994;
Forum of Free Enterprise
- A D Shroff Memorial Lecture (1995) on “Population and Economic Liberalization”
- “Law, Governance and Regulation” (2009)
United Writers’ Association & Frank Moraes Foundation (1994) on “Strategies for Economic Reform”
Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies
- Working with multinationals ( 1996, ed);
- Corporate Governance (1997, ed)
- The Political Economy of Power (2002)
- Electricity Bill, 2001 (February 2003)
Institute for Social and Economic Change, Monograph 18, Regulating Competition (2009)
“Bazaar Chintan”-International Development Enterprises India
The Role of the Private Health Care Provider in Rural India (2004)
Centre for Budget and Policy Studies, Bangalore
Karnataka Finances-2000 to 2008; A Comment (May 2008)
In Collections
- In “Intellectual Property Rights” Edited by KRG Nair and Ashok Kumar; Allied Publishers, 1994; Pages 165 to 174-“The Indian Health Care Industry: Role of Intellectual Property Rights” by S L Rao.
- In “Energy Infrastructure-Priorities, Constraints and Strategies for India” Asian Development Bank; Oxford University Press-2009; Pages 90 to 152 “Energy Regulatory Mechanism and Coordination across Sectors” by S L Rao.
Elected Public Positions
- President, Madras Management Association, 1981-82.
- President Society for International Development, Madras, 1980-88.
- Vice-President, Peoples’ Union for Civil Liberties, Tamil Nadu. (1981-1983)
- President, All India Management Association, 1985-86.
- Founder and First Chairman, Forum of Indian Regulators, (FOIR) 1998 to December 2001.
- Founder-Member, Steering Committee, South Asian Forum of Infrastructure Regulators (SAFIR) 1998 to 2001.
AWARDED the Ravi J Mathai National Fellowship for 2000-2001 (for contribution to management and management education) by the Association of Indian Management Schools.