Background
Khosla was born in New Delhi, and worked as Vice Chancellor of the University or Roorkee from 1954 to 1959.
Khosla was born in New Delhi, and worked as Vice Chancellor of the University or Roorkee from 1954 to 1959.
Born in Jalandhar district of Punjab, he took up his early education there. After passing the matriculation in 1908 he took his Bachelor with honours from Doctorate.A.V. College, Lahore, in 1912. He then joined the Thomason College of Civil Engineering (now IIT Roorkee) in 1913 and passed out in 1916 as Civil Engineer.
He was the Chairman of the Central Waterways Irrigation and Navigation Commission of India. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1954 and Padma Vibhushan in 1977. He was the Governor of Odisha from September 1962 to August 1966 and again from September 1966 to January 1968.
He was the president of Indian National Science Academy from 1961-1962.
After graduating in 1916, he started his career with the Irrigation Branch of the Punjab Public Works Department. In few years, the Indian Service of Engineers (International Securities Exchange) was established (1919) and he was allotted his first assignment (September 1917– March 1921) for surveys and investigations of Bhakra Dam Project.
During this period, he spent 18 months on deputation to Mesopotamia as a commissioned officer with the Indian Expeditionary Force. While serving there (1918–1920) he developed Khosla Disc for precision levelling across rivers and wide valleys.
From 1921 to 1926 he was involved in the construction of the Suleimanke Barrage.
In 1931 Khosla was deputed to the United States and Europe to study soil reclamation, water logging and the latest techniques in dam design. On his return he was posted to the Panjnad Head Works of Sutlej Valley Canals. Between June and September 1936 while in charge of the Hafizabad Division, he wrote his magnum opus, The design of weirs on permeable foundation.
This publication revolutionised the design of such structures in India and abroad.
Padma Vibhushan, 1977 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, 1974 Padma Bhusan, 1954 Conferred the honorary Doctor of Science degree by his alma mater.
He was nominated as member of the Rajya Sabha the Upper house of Indian Parliament in 1958, but resigned in 1959 and joined the Planning Commission of India. He was invited by the then Indian Prime Minister to serve as a member of Planning Commission in 1959.