Dr. Rajvanshi is currently Director, Trustee and Hon. Secretary of NARI. He has more than 40 years of experience in renewable energy R&D and rural development. He did his B.Tech and M.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from I.I.T. Kanpur in 1972 and 1974 respectively (read his reminiscences of his IITK days). He received his Ph.D. in Mech. Engg. from University of Florida, Gainesville, USA in 1979. He was also on the faculty of University of Florida (Dept. of Mechanical Engineering) for 2.5 years before returning to India in 1981 to work at NARI. 

Dr. Rajvanshi has served on many committees of the Government of India (Office of the principal Scientific Advisor to the GOI, Planning Commission, Advisory Board of Energy, MNES) and Government of Maharashtra (State Planning Commission, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission). He is the author of the national policy on Energy Self Sufficient Talukas, which was run by MNES, New Delhi.

Dr. Rajvanshi has been the principal investigator of 27 projects funded by various national and international agencies with grants totaling ~ Rs. 20 million. He has authored/co-authored more than 250 publications in various national and international journals including 35 editorial articles on sustainable development and spirituality in some of the major newspapers and magazines of India. He has 7 patents to his credit in the areas of lantern, alcohol stove, biomass gasifier and electric cycle rickshaws.

In 1998, he was inducted into the U.S. based Solar Hall of Fame. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Jamnalal Bajaj Award (2001). In 2004, he was awarded the Energy Globe Award for his work on the electric cycle rickshaw. In 2009, Dr. Rajvanshi’s invention of ethanol lantern and stove got NARI the prestigious Globe Award. He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from University of Florida in 2014. He is the first Indian to be given this award. The award acceptance speech is here.  He has been inducted as a notable alumni of IIT Kanpur.  In 2022 Government of India gave him Padma Shri – one of the highest civilian awards.

Dr. Rajvanshi has lectured and given seminars at many leading Universities in India and in US. He has been interviewed and featured in many national and international magazines. He has written 4 books and several book chapters. He also a regular blogger on Speaking Tree, Huffington Post, Thrive Global and South Asia Monitor among others. His major writings can be found here.

A detailed CV of his can be found here  and a short two-page biodata can be found here.