Background
Rao was born in a middle class brahmin farmer family in Kankipadu, Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh. His father was a village attorney. He lost his father when he was nine years old.
Rao was born in a middle class brahmin farmer family in Kankipadu, Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh. His father was a village attorney. He lost his father when he was nine years old.
He studied Intermediate (+2) at Presidency College, Madras. Later he took his Doctor of Philosophy in 1939 from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.
He lost vision in one eye due to injury during childhood days while playing at school. He took his Bachelor of Engineering degree from Madras University and he was the first student from Madras University to obtain a master"s degree in engineering. He worked as a Professor in Rangoon and Burma.
After completing Philosophy Doctor he worked as Assistant Professor in the United Kingdom.
He wrote a book called Structural Engineering and Reinforced Concrete. After returning to India, he worked as a design engineer for the Madras government.
He held the post of Director (Designs) in Vidyut Commission-New Delhi in 1950. He was promoted as chief engineer in 1954.
He wrote autobiography titled The Cusecs Candidate.
On 20 July 1963, Rao was sworn in as a minister for Irrigation and Electricity in the union government. Under his regime as union minister for water resources, Rao designed many irrigation and hydro-electric projects. Nagarjuna Sagar Dam, the world"s longest masonry dam on River Krishna in Nalgonda District of Telangana is to his cartulary-register
Rao worked as union minister in Jawahar Lal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Sastry and Indira Gandhi"s cabinet.
In 2006, the Pulichintala project, at Bellamkonda of Guntur district, has been named as K. L. Rao Sagar project
He was elected as a member of parliament from Vijayawada constituency for the first time in 1961. He was elected as member of parliament three times from the Vijayawada constituency.