Gaurav Agarwal, an investment banker, a Gold Medallist from IIM and an Ex-Alumnus of IIT, finds peace in serving the nation rather than making money. A large number of Candidates apply for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Exam every year to become Civil Servants including IAS, IPS and IRS. A person is IAS Gaurav Agarwal, who cracked this high-profile exam twice. But Who is IAS Gaurav Agarwal?
About Gaurav Agarwal
Gaurav Agarwal IAS topper, has secured AIR 1(UPSC 2013) by cracking the most Toughest UPSC exams in India. Gaurav Agarwal life is filled with ups and downs during his journey of becoming IAS. Every year, Lakh students take the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Examination. Gaurav Agarwal cracked the IIT JEE in 2001 at the age of 16 and scored All India Rank 45. It doesn’t stop here, Gaurav also cleared JEE Advance and CAT which are also the toughest exams of engineering and MBA in India. Let’s look at the journey of IAS Gaurav Agarwal
| IAS Gaurav Agarwal BIOGRAPHY | |
| Name | Gaurav Agarwal |
| Born/Age/Place | 15 AUGUST 1984/40 ( as in 2024) / Rajasthan |
| Family | Father – S C Gupta Mother – Suman Gupta Wife- Dr. Priti Agarwal and A Daughter |
| Service Preference | IAS>IPS>IRS |
| Hometown | Bharatpur District, Rajasthan |
| Marital status | Married to Dr. Priti Agarwal |
| Cadre Preference | Rajasthan>MP>IRS |
| Religion and Caste | Hindu and General |
| Rank UPSC 2013 | (AIR 244) CSE 2012 | (AIR-1) CSE 2013 |
| Heights (approx) | 5’8” |
| Weights(approx) | 66 kg |
| Education Background | B.tech (Computer Science), from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur PGDM, from Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow. |
| Profession | Trading, 3.5 years, Civil Service Officer |
| Social Media | LinkedIn – Gaurav Agarwal |
| Examination Roll Number | 249085 |
| Net Worth | INR 40-45 LAKHS |
Gaurav Agarwal Education
- Gaurav Agarwal completed his Primary Education from Jaipur and Graduated from IIT- Kanpur and Post Graduated from IIM Lucknow.
- Gaurav has previously worked as an Investment Banker at Citigroup at Hong Kong for around 3.5 years before he decided to quit his INR 1.26 Crore Job and Clear UPSC CSE(IAS) in 2013
- Gaurav Agarwal first attempt at the UPSC Exam was in the year 2012. In 2012, Gaurav got ranked 244 and got selected as an IPS officer. He was doing his Training at the “Police Academy in Hyderabad” but his intentions were very clear becoming an IAS officer so he again sit for UPSC Exam in 2013 and Topped with AIR-1.
- Gaurav Agarwal has also Secured 336 marks in (Graduate Record Examination) Examination in which Gaurav Agarwal has scored a perfect 172 in Mathematics.
Gaurav Agarwal- 10th & 12th Percentage
Gaurav Agarwal completed his school in Jaipur. Gaurav Agarwal got 88.2% in 10th and 85.6 in 12th.
| IAS Gaurav Agarwal 10th Percentage | 88.2% |
| IAS Gaurav Agarwal 12th Percentage | 85.6% |
Gaurav Agarwal- Graduation and Post Graduation
Gaurav Agarwal Cracked the IIT JEE in 2001 at the age of 16 , AIR-45. Gaurav Agarwal completed his graduation (2001-2005) in Computer Science from IIT Kanpur. But Gaurav Agarwal failed in one of the subjects during the final semester .Gaurav Agarwal got Extended for another Semester. After this, Gaurav cracked CAT in 2005 and completed his Post-Graduation in Finance from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow.
IAS Gaurav Agarwal – UPSC Marks
| IAS Gaurav Agarwal Marks in Prelims 2013 | |
| General Studies Paper 1 (GS) | 122.33/ 200 |
| General Studies Paper 2 (CSAT) | 182.55 / 200 |
| Total | 304 / 400 |
- Gaurav was way above the cut-off. Even for Prelims, A high score in CSAT can naturally be attributed to his IIT+ IIM and the score of 120+ in GS (General Studies) shows his command over the General Studies paper too.
IAS Gaurav Agarwal Mains Marksheet
| IAS Gaurav Agarwal Marks in mains 2013 | |
| Essay Paper | 135 / 250 |
| GS 1 | 85 / 250 |
| GS 2 | 63 / 250 |
| GS 3 | 88 / 250 |
| GS 4 | 102 / 250 |
| Optional Paper (Economics-1) | 134 / 250 |
| Optional Paper (Economics-2) | 162 / 250 |
| Mains (Written) Total | 769 / 1750 (43.94%) |
| GS Total | 338 / 1000 (33.8%) |
| Total Economics Optional Paper | 296 / 500 (59.2%) |
| IAS Gaurav Agarwal Interview board & Marks 2013 | |
| Interview Board | Dr. Kilemsungla board |
| IAS Gaurav Agarwal Marks in UPSC Interview | 206 / 275 |
| IAS Gaurav Agarwal Final Marks in UPSC 2013 | 975 / 2025 |
Gaurav Agarwal- Optional Subject in UPSC
Gaurav Scored 296/500 marks in Economics Optional Paper. Gaurav said that it was his optional marks which secured him the first rank.
Gaurav Agarwal- Booklist
| Booklist of UPSC CSE – Gaurav Agarwal | |
| SUBJECT | BOOKS/RESOURCES |
| Polity and Constitution | Laxmikanth, New NCERT Class VI to XII – not in detail Current Affairs : Vision, Editorials, PIB, PRS |
| Ancient History | Old NCERT Class 11th |
| Mediaeval History | Old NCERT Class 12th and 11th |
| Modern History | Old NCERT Book Class 12 (Before 1857) New NCERT Book Classes 6-12 . |
| Art & Culture | Nitin Singhania CCRT/NIOS selectively, Mrunal Videos. NCERT class 11.NCERT Class 11- Satish Chandra Medieval India |
| Environment | Shankar IAS, Old Biology Class12 Ecology Unit Current Affairs : Vision, Editorials, PIB PMF IAS |
| Economics | Macroeconomics Class 12 NCERT + Sriram Printed Notes. Mrunal Videos are recommended. Budget and Economic Survey Net: Arthpedia, Vikaspedia etc. |
| Geography | Class 11th and 12th NCERT, Class 6 to 10th NCERT selectively. Biomes chapter from G C Leong. Mrunal Videos. |
| Science | NCERT 6th to 10th (important 9th and 10th) |
| Test Series | InsightsonIndia paper for its questions. Arihant book for question bank. |
| Current Affairs | Monthly Magazine insightsonIndia + Monthly magazines |
Gaurav Agarwal- Current Posting
Gaurav Agarwal is working as a “CEO Zila Parishad, Karauli in Rajasthan.” Gaurav Agarwal is a technology Enthusiast and follows his passion for finance .Everyone in this world is looking forward to using Artificial intelligence AI ,to improve their productivity and efficiency, but Gaurav is finding ways to utilise AI in public policies. Gaurav Agarwal worked on various technological projects to improve the life of the last mile, poor and marginalised people.
Gaurav Agarwal- Success Tips For UPSC Aspirants
- Success and failure is a part of life. Failure should be taken as learning and growing and one should use them to improve oneself.
- Do not brush aside the weakness. One should try to analyse them and improve upon them.
- Have faith in your abilities. Be optimistic, only hope will allow you to make the effort to change the system.
- Do not compete with others, compete with yourself and always try to improve yourself by improving your weakness. By doing this, he said “Let Positivity in Negativity out”.
- Do not chase the target. Enjoy the journey without worrying about the targets. Learn from the failures, work passionately and success will come to you. And He quotes the Bhagavad Gita’s verse “कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते माँ फलेषु कदाचन। माँ कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥” which translates “You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. Perform work in this world, Arjuna, as a man established within himself – without selfish attachments, and alike in success and defeat.”
Personal Life of Gaurav Agarwal
Gaurav Agarwal’s Father “SC Gupta” who is Manager at Jaipur Dairy said Gaurav has attended coaching for six months in Delhi to prepare for History Subject and then returned to Jaipur, as he always believed in self study, with dedication.
Gaurav Agarwal got married to “Dr Preeti Airun” just four days after his interview for the UPSC IAS exam. Throughout his journey his family and wife supported him ,he said in an interview. They have Cute daughter as her name is not present on the internet.
The entire family was first annoyed when Gaurav decided to quit the Citigroup Job and prepare for UPSC CSE. His Annual package was over INR 1.26 crore. Over the success, mother Suman Gupta and 85-year-old grandfather- L. N. Gupta wanted Gaurav to serve the nation and family have supported him a lot.
Gaurav Agarwal- Blogs
Gaurav Agarwal also assists UPSC IAS Aspirants in their preparation, Gaurav Agarwal took up blogging in 2013 under the name “Khelo India”. Through Blogging, Gaurav has shared valuable Resources such as Preparation Tips, Strategies, and GS (General Studies) paper notes for the UPSC mains exam and his blog attracts a good amount of traffic as a result.
Gaurav Agarwal has also written a book called ‘Indian Economy’ especially for UPSC and State PCS aspirants to help the aspirant during their journey. Gaurav is a tech enthusiast who also loves economics. He is a cricket fan too. Gaurav Agarwal often shares his posts regarding tech, UPSC and other topics on LinkedIn regularly.
Conclusion
Gaurav Agarwal ,the UPSC Topper has left the well-paid job to serve the people of India and he appeared for an exam in which the success rate is almost 0.5% and also one of the toughest exams in the world. Gaurav said that success and failure are part of life. Also, we should have the courage to admit our mistakes and accept our weaknesses and work on yourselves, have faith in your abilities.
Do not chase the target and enjoy the journey without worrying about the targets. Gaurav Agarwal is a True Role Model for UPSC Aspirants.