B.V.P.Rao (Biyyala Venkat Papa Rao) is an Indian film maker, a sports administrator and a former member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) of the Assam cadre, until he took retirement in 2005. Rao also worked for the United Nations for seven years to build post- war governance and peace in Kosovo in various capacities. He was instrumental in setting up and then leading the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports as mandated by UNSC to develop Self-Governing institutions in Kosovo after the war. He was a policy adviser in the rank of a Cabinet Minister to the Government of youngest Indian State Telangana for five years from its formation in 2014
Rao has been instrumental in founding the Clean Sports India movement which worked on attempts to bring about reforms to make sports associations more professional and accountable. He was long involved with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and was responsible for a major talent hunt programme called Special Area Games, which tapped talent from India’s most remote and tribal areas and made several of them Olympians like ace archer Limba Ram.
He has a diploma from the New York Film Academy but he learnt film making from renowned Assamese film maker Jahnu Barua. He directed and produced a film titled Music School in 2023. His documentary short-length film Willing to Sacrifice won the National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Environment/Conservation/Preservation Film. He represented India in Equestrian sport. He also has a PG Diploma in Olympic Studies from the International Olympic Academy, Greece.
