Mandagere Bharadwaj Ramachandra Rao (5 August 1906 – 4 September 1992) was an Indian geophysicist, writer and one of the founding leaders of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC). It was Rao who was reported to have identified Patiala House as the headquarters of the organization. Born in the Mysore state of British India, (present-day Karnataka state), on 5 August 1906, he secured his post graduate degree (MSc) from the University of Mysore before joining the Geological Survey of India (GSI). Later, when the Oil and Natural Gas Commission was formed in 1956, he joined the organization along with a number of geoscientists from GSI where he served for a number of years.