VIJAYAWADA: President Droupadi Murmu conferred the prestigious Padma Shri on noted economist Prof. Kosaraju Leela Krishna for his exceptional contributions to education and literature at the Civil Investiture Ceremony-II held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were present.
A native of Unguturu village in Krishna district, Prof. Krishna, fondly known as ‘KL’ or ‘KLK’ in academic circles, has been a leading voice in applied econometrics, industrial economics, and regional economic analysis.
With a career spanning over six decades, he has authored numerous influential research papers and mentored generations of scholars.
Born on August 16, 1935, Prof. Krishna earned his Bachelor’s in Mathematics from Andhra University and an M.Sc. in Statistics from Kerala University. He trained under renowned statistician Prof. C.R. Rao at the Indian Statistical Institute and later earned a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago as a Fulbright Scholar.
He joined the Delhi School of Economics in 1958 and held several prominent academic and administrative roles, including Director of DSE, Chairman of CESS Hyderabad, and MIDS Chennai.
He also served as President of the Indian Econometric Society and was the founding editor of the Journal of Quantitative Economics.
As the leader of the India KLEMS Productivity Project at DSE from 2013 to 2022, funded by the Reserve Bank of India, he played a key role in shaping national economic data and research.
Even after retiring in 2000, Prof. Krishna continued teaching until 2010. His lifelong dedication to scholarship, education, and policy research has left a lasting imprint on India’s economic thought, culminating in this national honour.