Executive Director
Dr. M. Dinesh Kumar
B-Tech, M.E., Ph.D
Executive Director
Dr. Dinesh Kumar is the Executive Director of IRAP (Institute for Resource Analysis and Policy) which he founded in 2008. He has nearly 33 years of experience working on technical, economic, institutional & policy issues in water management in India and other Asian countries such as Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Spain, Bangladesh and Cambodia.
Dr. Kumar is the author of 10 books and nine edited volumes on water, energy, agriculture, food security and has published extensively in international peer-reviewed journals such as journal of hydrology, water international, water resources management, water policy, energy policy, natural hazards, food security, international journal of water resources development and water and environment journal. Dr. Kumar has 300+ research publications to his credit including several journal articles, book chapters, international conference papers and monographs.
The major areas of expertise of Dr. Kumar are irrigation, river basin management, groundwater management, water-energy-food security nexus, urban water management, water productivity in agriculture, climate risk and resilience in water supply and virtual water trade. Dr. Kumar has a Ph. D in Water Management, M. E in Civil Engineering (Water Resources Management) and B-Tech in Civil Engineering.
Dr Kumar is the Associate Editor of Water Policy since 2011 and a Member of the Editorial Board of International Journal of Water Resources Development since 2014, Public Library of Science (PLOS) Water Journal Since May 2021 and Frontiers in Water Journal since June 2021.
During a career spanning over 3 decades, he had travelled to two dozen countries to participate in workshops, conferences, meetings, project reviews and field studies. He regularly publishes ‘Special Articles’, ‘Commentaries’ and ‘Discussion Notes’ in the Economic and Political Weekly, which is an Indian magazine highly subscribed within India and abroad, dealing with contemporary social, economic, environmental and political issues in South Asia.
