Dr. Kumar is currently President of Society of Indoor Air after completing his tenure at CSIR Head Quarters as Mission Director for coordinating National Research Hub for Carbon Capture-Storage and Use (CCUS). He obtained M. Tech. in Environmental Science and Engineering from IIT-Bombay and later accomplished Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering while at CSIR NEERI. He was Chief Scientist and Head of CSIR-NEERI Mumbai Zonal Centre before becoming Director of CSIR NEERI for about 5 years during 2016-2021. He has a vast experience in all fields of environmental science and engineering, especially air pollution control and management, urban air quality monitoring, emission inventory and modeling, environmental impact assessment, environmental audit, climate change and health. Dr. Kumar has given a notable contribution in developing technologies for reuse and recycle of domestic and industrial wastewater, which brought a paradigm shift in the country. His efforts have always been for upliftment and application of Science and Technology for a sustainable development. His goal is to provide science and technology oriented solutions for the benefit of society and industry. He has received 9 awards for his outstanding contributions in Environmental Science & Engineering, among which the notable ones are Commonwealth Commission Award, UK in 1994; “Environmental Leadership Award” by US Asia Environmental Partnership and US-AID for the year 2005 for outstanding contribution in improving quality of life for the population of Asia. He has been given an award for largest number of technology transfer for low cost waste water treatment-PHYTORID in the year 2012. He has been given VASVIK award for 2012 for his exemplary work for urban environment improvement and sustainable technology "Phytorid" for sewage treatment for better environment. He has been recently awarded "Hiyoshi Think of Ecology Award" in September 2015 for his work on use of ecology in solving environmental engineering problems. Recently in 2020 he has received Green Excellence Award in Environment Protection Category for providing innovative solutions for waste water treatment. He has also served as ‘Adjunct Professor’ at Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering, IIT-Bombay. In last two years, CSIR Technology related awards have been given for unique “In-situ Drain Treatment” and “Development of Green Crackers”.
Dr. Kumar has 18 patents on pollution control devices including three international patents, and published more than 170 papers in national and international Journals and 90 papers in national and international conferences.