Srivastava was born on the last day of the year 1942 in Varanasi, the holy city of Lord Shiva in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. He secured his master's degree in Physics (MSc) in 1961 from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and followed it up with a doctoral degree (PhD) from the same institution, under the guidance of renowned physicist Ajit Ram Verma, in 1966. After doing his post doctoral research at Cornell University, USA, he returned to India to start his career as a lecturer at Banaras Hindu University where he served in different capacities as that of a reader, professor, head of the department of physics and the coordinator of the Centre of Advance Studies-Hydrogen Energy Centre. After his superannuation from service, he continues his association with the university as a professor emeritus and as an associate faculty member of Condensed Matter Experiment research program of the university.

Srivastava, a former member of the board of directors of The World Academy of Sciences, was the vice president (India & South Asia) of the International Association of Hydrogen Energy, having been elected to the position in 2012, where he also serves as a member of their editorial board. Under his guidance, the Hydrogen Energy Centre of BHU is involved in advance research on the practical applications of hydrogen fuel, in association with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), of the Government of India. He has published two books, Crystallography Applied to Solid State Physics and Formation and phase stability of Al based quasicrystals: Quasicrystal and over 440 scientific papers. He has delivered keynote addresses in a number of science seminars and has undertaken several projects for various government agencies; Nanoscience and Technology of the Department of Science and Technology (2005–2010), Support to Hydrogen Energy Centre (2007–2012), Development & Demonstration of Hydrogen Catalytic Combustion Cookers (2007–2010), Development & Demonstration of Hydrogen Fueled three wheelers (2009–2012), Mission Mode Project on Hydrogen Storage Materials (Hydride) (2009–2014), all of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and Synthesis Characterization and Properties of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes (2009–2012) of the Defence Research and Development Organization are some of the notable ones. He has also been involved in organizing many science conferences and has mentored 57 doctoral students.