The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, announces the appointment of Shri Srivatsa Krishna, IAS as the new Tourism Secretary. A distinguished civil servant and one of India’s most accomplished administrative leaders, Shri Krishna brings over three decades of experience across governance, technology, global finance, infrastructure, and strategic policy.
Shri Krishna topped the National Civil Services Examination in 1994, securing All India Rank 1 out of nearly 500,000 candidates, and was awarded the President of India’s Gold Medal. Over the years, he has played a transformative role in pioneering India’s e-governance movement and developing Cyberabad, one of Asia’s most successful IT and investment hubs, credited with attracting global majors such as Microsoft, HSBC, General Electric, Google, IBM, and Oracle.
An alumnus of Harvard Business School, Oxford University, and currently completing his PhD at IIT Madras, Shri Krishna has served in senior global roles including at the World Bank in Washington D.C., where he co-managed a USD 2 billion annual internal fund and oversaw capital allocation across assets exceeding USD 100 billion. He has contributed to major infrastructure initiatives in over 18 countries, including the world’s largest Special Economic Zone in Aqaba, Jordan, and the ambitious USD 61-billion Arabian Canal project.
Shri Krishna has been recognised internationally as a World Economic Forum “Global Leader for Tomorrow”, and named among Thinkers 50 India. He has collaborated with renowned global experts including Prof. Michael Porter and Prof. Clayton Christensen, contributing seminal work on competitiveness, clusters, and emerging-market growth.
A respected public intellectual, he writes for leading global publications including The Times of India, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Business Today, and is a regular commentator on BBC, CNN, Times Now and other national platforms. He has spoken at TED, the World Economic Forum in Davos, The Economist India Summit, and major academic institutions worldwide.
In addition to his administrative and academic achievements, Shri Krishna has also contributed creatively to Indian cinema, having sung playback for the Bollywood film Shanghai, inspired in part by his career.
As Tourism Secretary, Shri Srivatsa Krishna will lead the Ministry’s efforts to position India as a global tourism powerhouse, strengthen sustainable and technology-driven tourism models, enhance destination competitiveness, and expand India’s cultural and experiential tourism footprint worldwide.
