He won Sahitya Akademi Golden Jubilee prize for his English translation of the Punjabi devotional poetry of Saint Baba Farid.

Among the prominent Punjabi authors he has translated are included such literary giants as Gurdial Singh,[5] Raghubir Dhand, Mohan Bhandari and Beeba Balwant inter alia.

[7] His first collection of poems (composed by himself) is titled Breathing Spaces, which has received critical review and appreciation in Indian literary circle.

[8] Rana Nayar has been a Charles Wallace (India) Trust Awardee, besides having won commendation awards for translation from British Council and Katha.

In 2007 he won Sahitya Akademi's Indian Literature Golden Jubilee Literary Translation Prize for Poetry.