18 October 2026
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Quitting Job in Google and Becoming Telangana’s First UPSC CSE Topper

Anudeep Durishetty became the first in Telangana to score the top rank in UPSC CSE exam.
Indian Masterminds Stories

Some people are born hustlers who keep on aiming for the maximum. They do not sit in satisfaction with what they have but aspire and work hard to achieve more in life. Mr. Anudeep Durishetty is one such person who always wanted to be in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). It was not just a dream for him. He worked very hard to get into IAS, with an unmatched passion and drive.

UPSC CSE, being one of the toughest competitive exams in the country, was not a piece of cake for Mr. Durisetty, despite being an excellent student. The exam tested his limits as he had to give it five times before qualifying for his dream service. His steadfastness finally won, and in his fifth attempt, he entered IAS in style, by securing the first position. His name was against AIR 1 and he incidentally also became the first topper from Telangana in UPSC CSE. 

INTEREST IN CIVIL SERVICES

Mr. Durisetty completed his Bachelor of Technology (BTech) from the prestigious Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (BITS), Pilani, and graduated as an engineer in 2011. During his engineering days, he developed a keen interest in civil services and in becoming an IAS officer.

He started preparing for CSE during this time and managed to clear the Prelims and Mains exam in his first attempt but failed to clear the interview stage. Around that time, he achieved the milestone of getting into the global multinational corporation, Google, as a software engineer. However, corporate life could not hold his interest for long and he continued his preparation for cracking CSE.

BECOMING THE TOPPER

In 2013, he cracked the exam, securing AIR 790, to get into the Indian Revenue Service (IRS). He joined the service but was not happy as he did not achieve what he aimed for. He sat for UPSC exam for the next two years but didn’t taste success in any of them. Life had some other plan in store for him.

He sat for the exam again, and this time in his fifth attempt, he not only cleared all the stages of this tough exam but also secured AIR 1 to become the all-India topper of CSE 2017. He also created a record as he became the first from his state, Telangana, to top the UPSC exam.

Becoming the topper of CSE 2017 did not come easy for Mr. Durisetty. He put his heart and soul into the UPSC exam, studying for 18 hours every day. All’s well that ends well, it is said. In the case of Mr. Durisetty, all his hard work and perseverance paid off in the end and he made up big time for the past failures and disappointments by making it to the very top!

Mr. Durisetty was allotted his home cadre and is currently posted as the Additional Collector (Local Bodies), Bhadradri-Kothagudem.


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