He was of 1963 batch of Indian Administrative Service from the Andhra Pradesh cadre, was also the member of the 12th Finance Commission and director of several companies including the scam-tainted company Satyam Computer Services Ltd from which he resigned when Byrraju Ramalinga Raju admitted accounting fraud.
Initially educated at Loyola College Vijayawada, Prasad held a master's degree in Physics (Electronics) from Banaras University.
[7] During his stint as member of Twelfth Finance Commission, Prasad pointed out that India was almost 13 times below the FDI of China due to backwardness in education and infrastructure, which are key ingredients for growth.
He also called for new fiscal reforms to stabilise growth and governance on the lines proposed by the Kelkar task force.
When pressure mounted on him from various places across corporate India and also the government, he resigned not just from Satyam Computers but also from other directorships.