Dr. Venkatraman Rajagopalan, IAS — Senior Environment & Climate Advisory

Domains of Practice

Deep, practitioner-level expertise across the full spectrum of environmental governance

Decades of hands-on leadership — not as an observer but as the decision-maker — across environmental impact assessment, pollution control, climate negotiations, biodiversity finance, and institutional design.

Climate Change & UNFCCC Negotiations

India's Team Leader in UNFCCC climate negotiations. Led bilateral discussions and initiatives outside the UNFCCC framework including the Climate and Clean Air Initiative. Commissioned studies for post-2020 commitments across growth trajectories.

Environmental Impact Assessment

Chaired the Committee of Technical Experts that prepared EIA Guidance Manuals for 21 project categories across energy, industry, and infrastructure — the foundational reference framework for environmental clearances in India.

Biodiversity Finance & Resource Mobilization

Architect of India's Biodiversity Finance Plan. Currently chairs expert committees operationalizing KM-GBF Targets 15 and 19. Proposed innovative instruments including Biodiversity Credits and Tiger Ecosystem Bonds.

Pollution Control & Standards

As Chairman, CPCB, formulated industry-specific emission and effluent standards. Directed source apportionment studies across six metropolitan cities, informing city-specific action plans for particulate matter reduction.

Coastal Zone & Basin Management

Chaired the General Council for the World Bank–assisted Integrated Coastal Zone Management project. Led the paradigm shift in Ganga Basin management from city-centric waste treatment to comprehensive basin-level ecological restoration.

Chemicals, Waste & Hazardous Materials

Pivotal role in formulating rules on municipal solid waste, lead acid batteries, fly ash, plastic waste, bio-medical waste, and hazardous chemicals. National focal point for the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions.

Government Service

Key positions held

2012 – 2014

Secretary to the Government of India

Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change

2003 – 2006

Chairman

Central Pollution Control Board, Government of India

1998 – 2003

Joint Secretary

Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India

1994 – 1995

Director, Environment

Government of Uttar Pradesh

1978 – 2014

Indian Administrative Service (IAS)

Full career span — superannuated August 2014

Select Post-Retirement Engagements

Continuing to deliver at the intersection of policy and practice

UNDP

GCF-funded proposal on enhancing climate resilience of India's coastal communities (approved). India's Biodiversity Finance Plan. Tiger Ecosystem Bond framework. National Action Plan on Mercury. Strategy for a National Green Business Platform.

World Bank

Assessment of afforestation and reforestation potential across Indian states in the context of India's INDC on carbon sequestration — covering financing, convergence, ecological fiscal transfer, agroforestry, and institutional design.

MoEF&CC

Chaired committees on environment, ecology, and hazardous waste management. Chaired the National Coordination Committee for a comprehensive national action plan on chemical management.

NBA

Chaired the Working Group preparing India's National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) aligned with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Currently chairs expert committees on KM-GBF Targets 15 and 19.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Technical contributions backed by published, peer-reviewed research

Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health

Source Apportionment Studies in Six Indian Cities — Drawing Broad Inferences for Urban PM10 Reductions

Prashant Gargava & V. Rajagopalan, 2015

DOI: 10.1007/s11869-015-0353-4

Environmental Development

Source Prioritisation for Urban Particulate Emission Control in India Based on an Inventory of PM10 and its Carbonaceous Fraction in Six Cities

Prashant Gargava & V. Rajagopalan, 2015

DOI: 10.1016/j.envdev.2015.07.009

UNCTAD Workshop, Bangkok

Recent Indian Policy Initiatives in Lead Battery Scrap Management and Their Impact on the Domestic Demand–Supply Gap of Lead

V. Rajagopalan, 2001

Presented at the UNCTAD workshop on Sustainable Management of Recoverable Material

International Journal of Development Banking

Development Banking: Operational Issues at the Field Level

V. Rajagopalan & Vinod Vyasulu, 1990

Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 35–41

Academic Credentials

A rare combination of technical depth and management training

Ph.D. — Air Pollution Modeling

University of Lucknow

Thesis on air environment management and comparative assessment of dispersion models

M.Sc. — Environmental Technology

Imperial College, University of London

Faculty of Engineering, 1993

PGDM — Business Management

Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore

1988

M.Tech — Engineering Mechanics

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

First Class, 1978

B.Tech — Civil Engineering