Dr Tanugula Rao belongs to the 1986 batch of the Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) and held various key positions in the Ministry of Railways, Government of India and State Government. Dr Rao was vice-chair and managing director of Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation in Hyderabad, managing director of Sports Authority and Executive Director (Finance, Marketing & Public Relations) in Singareni Collieries Company. He also served as Special Secretary in Infrastructure and Revenue (Disaster Management) Department in Government of Andhra Pradesh, India, and as a Consultant at the World Bank, Washington DC. Dr Rao was director at Hindustan Shipyard, GMR Hyderabad, Vishakhapatnam Port Trust and is currently working as director (Commercial) in NMDC wu since 17 November 14. He is also a director of NMDC Limited, NMDC Power Limited, Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited and Krishnapatnam Railway Co. Limited.