Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu (born 11 July 1953) is an Indian politician and the Chancellor of Rishihood University. Since June 2016, he has represented Andhra Pradesh and Haryana in the Rajya Sabha. He is also a visiting professor at the London School of Economics and serves as the Chairman of the National Cooperative Policy.

Education and career

Suresh Prabhu completed his schooling from Sharadashram Vidya Mandir, Dadar, Mumbai, followed by a Bachelor's degree in Commerce 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.

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

On 18 August 2016, Suresh Prabhu was honored with the Goud Saraswat Brahmin Samaj Maharatha Award, recognizing his contributions and achievements within the community. Between 2014 and 2017, he was consistently ranked among the top five ministers in India based on performance metrics and accessibility, as evaluated in nationwide surveys conducted by multiple media organizations. These assessments focused on key performance indicators and public engagement strategies. In 2024, Suresh Prabhu was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Economic Policy Group (EPG), a private firm specializing in economic analysis and strategic consulting. This recognition underscores his substantial contributions to economic policy and strategy, reflecting his influence and leadership in the field.

Social Work and interests

Controversies

Suresh Prabhu has, from time to time, been implicated in illegal/allegedly illegal activities such as: (a) Buying a flat in the illegally constructed Adarsh housing society in a prime Mumbai location in Colaba. The building was originally meant for war widows of the 1999 Kargil war, ended up being allotted to/ purchased by bureaucrats & politicians, including Suresh Prabhu, who had no connections with the Kargil war,. Suresh Prabhu continues to declare the illegally allotted flat in Adarsh CHS as his asset as per his affidavit of declaration of assets and liabilities filed by him as a member of Rajya Sabha, (b) the bouncing of cheques, an offence under Indian law, issued by a finance firm — Western India Financial Services — of which Prabhu was Chairman and managing director, besides other firms which were also under investigation, (c) the sanctioning loans by Saraswat Bank, of which he was Chairman to fake cooperative societies set up by others to misappropriate funds meant as relief for poor cobblers, in the Rs 1000 crores "cobbler scam". (d) Prabhu was also the prime accused in a court case of a banking fraud of over Rs 12 million in Goa from which his name was later dropped on technical grounds.