Suresh Prabhu

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

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. He is also the founding Chancellor of Rishihood University. He is also a visiting professor at London School of Economics. He is also a chairman of National Cooperative Policy.

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. He received a Bachelor in Law degree from the New Law College (Ruparel College campus), Mumbai. Prabhu is a Chartered Accountant and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

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 Member of the Maharashtra Tourism Development Board, among others. He is part of 16 global organizations and 9 strategic dialogues which include:
 * Global Water Partnership
 * GLOBE, UK
 * World Economic Forum (WEF)
 * Global Industries Council
 * UN Advisor
 * United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
 * United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
 * Asia Energy Forum
 * United Nations Committee of Biodiversity
 * World Federation of UNESCO

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

Political career
He was, at various times during the Premiership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee from 1998 to 2004, Union Minister of Industry(1996), Minister of Environment and Forests(1998-99), Minister of Fertilizers & Chemicals, Power(2000-02), chairperson of the Task Force for Interlinking of Rivers(2002-04), Minister of Railways(2014-17), Commerce and Industry(2017-19) and Civil Aviation(2018-19).

During his tenure as the Union Minister for Power, he pushed for policies in the power sector on rural-electrification, T&D reforms, encouraged investments, and advocated for sustainable power development.

He has been a Member of the Lok Sabha between 1996 and 2009, spanning the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th Lok Sabha. 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.

Awards and recognition
He was 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.

His performance as the Union Power Minister was acknowledged by The Indian Express.

He 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.

Suresh Prabhu received the Goud Saraswat Brahmin Samaj Maharatha Award on 18 August 2016.

He was featured in the list of top five ministers in India from 2014 to 2017 in terms of performance and accessibility in nationwide surveys conducted by various media outlets.

He was awarded 'Indian of the Year 2017'.

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

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.

Social Work and interests

 * Former Chairman, Saraswat Co-operation Bank. (former Chairman)
 * Former Director, National Co-Operative Union of India
 * Chairman, Manav Sadhan Vikas Sansthan, an NGO
 * Senior Vice-president, Table Tennis Federation of India (present)
 * Advisory Board Member, Eco Needs Foundation and its Eco Revolution movement
 * Founder and Trustee, Manav Sadhan Vikas Sansthan, an NGO
 * Chairman, India Foundation