Dr. Amar Patnaik
Dr. Amar Patnaik is a Former Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha (2019–2024) - the upper house of Indian Parliament. Dr. Patnaik is a leading voice at the intersection of climate policy, ESG governance, and India's emerging carbon economy. A lawyer by profession and Founder of A&N Legal Solutions LLP, he combines a rare convergence of legislative authority, regulatory expertise, and frontline engagement with India's most consequential environmental, financial, and trade policy questions.
As a Member of Parliament representing the state of Odisha, Dr. Patnaik served on the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, the Committee on Public Undertakings, and the Rajya Sabha Committee on Subordinate Legislation. He has been a prominent parliamentary voice on the design of India's ESG framework, the integrity of carbon accounting systems, and the architecture of carbon trading mechanisms — proposing innovative regulatory frameworks for ESG disclosure and emissions measurement at a time when these conversations were nascent in India's policy discourse. His parliamentary interventions also shaped debate on fiscal federalism, climate finance, MSME credit access in the green transition, and the regulatory readiness of India's financial system for sustainability-linked instruments. He was awarded the Sansad Ratna in 2022 for his impactful parliamentary performance.
Prior to his tenure in Parliament, Dr. Patnaik served for 28 years as an Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS) officer under the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, holding the position of Principal Accountant General in Odisha, West Bengal, Sikkim, and Kerala. He led external audit missions for the United Nations in New York, Sudan, Uganda, and Italy, and audited the IT systems of the UN and the FAO, alongside major Indian institutions including Indian Railways. This unusual combination — public finance accountability at scale, international institutional audit, and parliamentary legislative engagement on climate and ESG — gives Dr. Patnaik a perspective few in India can match on what credible, auditable, and transparent carbon market infrastructure must look like.
His published work and advocacy span carbon trading systems, financial inclusion in the green economy, fiscal frameworks for climate transition, monetary policy in a decarbonising economy, and the institutional design of regulatory frameworks for emerging sectors. He has called consistently for evidence-based reform that strengthens MRV integrity, advances India's readiness for trade-linked climate obligations such as CBAM, and positions Indian industry to participate in international carbon markets with credibility.
Dr. Patnaik holds a PhD in Institutional Studies from Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, an MBA in Finance and Systems, a Master's in Public Management from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and the Harvard Kennedy School, and an Advanced Management Certificate from the Wharton School. He is a Chevening Gurukul Scholar at the London School of Economics, a Certified Fraud Examiner, and a Certified Internal Auditor.
He currently practises as an advocate before the National Green Tribunal and electricity regulatory authorities, advising clients and government on the legal architecture of India's climate, ESG, and regulatory frameworks. As a Founding Member of ETAI's Advisory Council, Dr. Patnaik brings to India's carbon market institution-building exactly the convergence of legislative depth, audit rigour, and intellectual scholarship that the moment requires.