Dr. Prasanna Kumar Mohanty was a Post-doctoral Fellow in Harvard University. He did MA (Economics) from Delhi School of Economics, MA (Political Economy) and PhD (Economics) from Boston University – with specialisation in Urban Public Policy and Finance. He was also a Fellow of Population Council, New York. Currently he is Honorary Professor of Economics, University of Hyderabad, honorary adviser to Centre for Good Governance (CGG) and honorary executive chair (Programmes), National Institute of Urban Management (NIUM), Hyderabad guiding research and training programmes in NIUM. Dr. Mohanty is also a Director in the Central Board of Reserve Bank of India, Chairman, Southern Local Board of Reserve Bank of India and Director in the Board of National Housing Bank.

An officer of Indian Administrative Service (1979 batch), Dr. Mohanty was the Chief Secretary to Government of the combined State of Andhra Pradesh, a post held by him after becoming Secretary to Government of India. His other posts include: Mission Director, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), Government of India; Commissioner of Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad Municipal Corporations; Vice Chairman, Hyderabad Urban Development Authority, Director General, Centre for Good Governance (CGG), Hyderabad, and District Collector and Magistrate, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. He has been a member of several expert committees at national level, including Committee on National Training Policy, Expert Committee on Identification of BPL Households, Expert Group on Decentralised Planning, etc. His initiatives for urban forestry in Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad Municipal Corporations bagged Prime Minister’s Award twice.

Dr. Mohanty has authored “Planning and Economics of Cities: Shaping India’s Form and Future” – Sage Publications (2019), “Financing Cities in India: Municipal Reforms, Fiscal Accountability and Urban Infrastructure” – Sage Publications (2016) and “Cities and Public Policy: An Urban Agenda for India” – Sage Publications (2014). He has co-edited “Urbanisation in India: Challenges, Opportunities and the Way Forward” – Sage Publications (2014). He also led the seminal study: “Municipal Finance in India – An Assessment”, undertaken and published by Reserve Bank of India (2007).