Dr . E. Sreedharan, born on 12 June 1932 in a remote village in Kerala, had a brilliant academic career  and took his degree in Civil Engineering in 1953 from the Government College of Engineering, Kakinada.  He had a small stint  as lecturer in Civil Engineering in the Government Polytechnic, Kozhikode and  later as Sub Engineer  in Bombay Port Trust before he entered the elite Indian Railway Service of  Engineers in December 1954.

 As an Executive Engineer he came into spotlight when he restored the 126 spans nd of Pamban  Railway bridge, which got washed away by tidal waves on 22 December 1963, in a record time of 46  days as against the target of 6 months set by Railway Ministry. He held many challenging and  responsible posts on Indian Railways, such as Divisional Superintendent, Chief Engineer and General  Manager , Western Railway . After a distinguished career spanning 36 years on the Indian Railways, he  retired in 1990 as Member Engineering, Railway Board and as ex-officio Secretary to the Government of  India.

 With his background of successfully executing many railway projects including new railway lines,  doubling projects, tunnels and bridges, he was specially chosen after his retirement to head the 760km  long prestigious Konkan Railway Project from Mumbai to Mangalore which he completed within an  incredibly short period of 7 years, in spite of severe resource crunch and very difficult terrain conditions.

With his background of successfully executing many railway projects including new railway lines, doubling projects, tunnels and bridges, he was specially chosen after his retirement to head the 760km long prestigious Konkan Railway Project from Mumbai to Mangalore which he completed within an incredibly short period of 7 years, in spite of severe resource crunch and very difficult terrain conditions.

After completing Konkan Railway , Government selected him to head the prestigious Delhi Metro Project. The first phase of Delhi Metro covering 65 Kms costing Rs.10,500 crores was completed 2 years & 9 months ahead  of schedule.This was followed by the 2 phase covering 124 kms at a cost of  Rs.24,000  crores which was completed in 4.1/2 years - a world record. The 3 phase  of  the Delhi Metro covering 143 kms at a cost of Rs.40,000 crores which is now in  progress was initiated by him. Today, Delhi can boast of a world class Metro which is  the pride of the nation.

Following the success of Delhi Metro, Dr.Sreedharan has been spearheading the  spread of Metro systems to other State capitals. In the process, metro projects are  now coming up in Bangaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkatta (a second line),  Ahmadabad, Jaipur and Kochi. His pioneering contribution to the Delhi Metro and  spreading the Metros to other cities earned him the nick name "Metro Man". He  retired  from Delhi Metro in December 2011, but is still active as the Principal Advisor,  Delhi Metro Rail Corporation(DMRC), overseeing Kochi Metro, Mono-rail projects for Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram and drawing up proposals for an ambitious High Speed Railway line (350 kmph speed) from Thiruvananthapuram to Mangalore. Sri. Sreedharan is a Member of the Kerala State Planning Board. His vast experience, technical competence and un-erring vision are all now being used by Kerala State Government.

Awards and accolades
Dr. Sreedharan is a recipient of many prestigious awards from the Government and professional bodies in India and abroad. To mention a few -• Railway Minister's Award (1963)

• Padma Shri by the Government of India (2001)
• Man of the Year by The Times of India (2002)
• Shri Om Prakash Bhasin Award for professional excellence in engineering (2002)
• CII (Confederation of Indian Idustry) Juror's Award for leadership in infrastructure development (2002–03)
• One of Asia's Heroes by TIME (2003)
• AIMA (All India Management Association) award for Public Service Excellence (2003)
• Degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris causa) from IIT Delhi.
• Bharat Shiromani award from the Shiromani Institute, Chandigarh (2005)
• Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) by the government of France (2005)
• He was named one of the "top 25 newsmakers of 2005" by US's premier publication on construction industry "Engineering News Record".
• He was awarded “The Person of The Year” by the India Vision News Channel in 2006.
• He was given “Man of the Year Award for Public Service” and “Indian of the Year Award” – from CNN – IBN in 2007.
• Padmavibhushan by the Government of India (2008)
• He won the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration, Academics & Management in 2008.
• Received the “Life Time Contribution Award in Engineering” in the year 2008 from Indian National Academy of Engineering.
• Received the “Policy Change Agent Award” from Economic Times in 2008.
• Was awarded “Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi 12 National Eminence Award” by The South Indian Education Society on 25.12.2009 at Mumbai.
• D.Lit. By Rajasthan T echnical University , Kota, Rajasthan, in 2009
• Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris causa) from IIT Roorkee, 2009.
• Awarded the Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Industrial & Social Peace on 27.3.2010 by XLRI Jamshedpur .
• Given the “Man of the Year” Award by the Construction World magazine on 19.10.2010.
• SR Jindal Prize (honorary) awarded by Sitaram Jindal Foundation, 2012.
• Lokmanya Tilak Award 2013.
• Felicitated by Engineers' Forum Nagpur at Nagpur on 21.9.2013.

  

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