Former Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu

Dr. Rajeev Ranjan

Dr. Rajeev Ranjan, from the 1985 batch of the Indian Administrative Service has handled several important assignments in his over 36-years-long service and has the unique distinction of occupying the highest levels in Government both at the National as well as the State (as Secretary in Government of India and Chief Secretary in the Government of Tamil Nadu). He began his career as Sub-Collector in Tamil Nadu and after deputation in GoI in different spells became the Chief Secretary in Tamil Nadu Government in February, 2021.

Academic Qualifications/Training: Dr. Ranjan holds a degree in Physics (Honours), an MBA from IIM-Ahmedabad, PG degree in Public Policy from the London School of Economics (LSE) and a Ph.D. in Management Sciences (Intellectual Property Rights- IPRs) from Anna University. He has attended several training programs in reputed institutions in India and abroad viz, IIMs, ASCI, on Ethics and Governance in Univ. of California, Berkeley, USA (2018); Best Practices in Managing Public Private Partnerships in Cambodia (2018); Management Leadership Programme in Monash Univ., Australia (2017); Professional training in Columbia Univ., USA (2015); Leadership and Management in LSE, UK (2011); Tax Analysis and Revenue forecasting in Duke Univ., USA (2009) etc.

Government of India (GoI):As Director and Joint Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in the Union Ministry of Industries and Commerce during April 2000 to June 2007, he was involved in revamping intellectual property laws, particularly amendments to Patents and Industrial designs, creating awareness on IPR issues and modernization of the intellectual property offices as project in-charge involving construction of new IP offices in the four Metros, recruitment of examiners, computerization and networking of the offices leading to significant improvement in their functioning which was widely appreciated. He was instrumental in setting up of the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) and preparation of National Manufacturing Strategy and National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme (NMCP) as Chief/Joint Secretary. He also represented GoI in various international conferences/meetings, including World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO- Assemblies, PCT, SCP, IGC etc.), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Asian Productivity Organization (APO) etc.

On his next deputation to the GoI in September 2018, he was posted as Special Secretary in the GST Council in the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance and Director in Goods and Service Tax Network (GSTN). His innings, over saw the development of effective GST system as well as the introduction of e-invoicing system, streamlining of the procedures for taxpayers and ease of doing business and sharing of data and data analytics to prevent tax evasion. As Secretary Fisheries in the newly created dept. in the Ministry of Fisheries and Animal Husbandry & Dairying, GoI in February 2019 for revamping and managing the fisheries sector in India, he was instrumental in designing and launching of the ₹20,050 crore-Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) and PLI for focused and sustainable development of the fisheries sector by boosting the production and exports.

Government of Tamil Nadu: He has held several important positions in the GoTN in the field (such as Collector, Tiruchirapalli district; Member Secretary, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA); Commissioner (Industries and Commerce)) and policy levels like Deputy Secretary, Home Dept.; Deputy Secretary (Budget), Joint/Additional/Special Secretary in the finance dept.; OSD to the 13th Finance Commission; One Man commission for sorting pay commission anomalies; Chairman of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board; Principal Secretary/Additional Chief Secretary of departments like Industries, Energy, Revenue and Disaster Management Dept.; Commercial Taxes & Registration Highways & Ports Dept., etc. He assisted in the turnaround of the power situation in TN to make it power surplus again and achieving the leadership position in renewable energy and promoted TN as an excellent investment destination and to retain its top position in the industrial sphere. He has valuable experience in the infrastructure sector in developing road and ports infrastructure and overall financing and monitoring of developmental infrastructure across sectors. As Chief Secretary, he was overall incharge of the functioning of the administration and socio economic development of the State.

Companies/PSUs/Board Experience: He has vast experience of PSUs and the Corporate Sector (including publicly listed) having numerous stints as Chairman/MD/Director in the last three decade across sectors like infrastructure, industry, energy, finance, taxation, shipping, etc

Chairman and Managing Director- Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Ltd. (TNPL), TN Road Dev. Co. (TNRDC), IT Expressway Ltd., TN Road Infrastructure Development Corp. (TNRIDC), TN Industrial Development Corp. Ltd. (TIDCO), TN Electricity Board (TNEB), TN Transmission Corp., TN Generation and Distribution Corp. (TANGEDCO), TIDEL Park, SIPCOT, TN Cements (TANCEM), TN Sugar Corp. Ltd., TN Industrial Guidance and Export Promotion, etc.

Chairman (Private Sector)- TITAN Company Ltd., TN Petro Products Ltd., etc

Director- NLC Ltd. (GoI Navratna Co.), GSTN, Chennai Metro Rail Ltd., NTPC TN Energy Ltd., TN Energy Development Agency (TEDA), TN Power Finance Corp. (TNPFC), TN Electronics (ELCOT), RAMCO Cements, IIT Madras Research Park, Adyar poonga, TN Industrial Investment Corp. (TIIC), TN Minerals (TAMIN), TN State Marketing Corp. (TASMAC), TN Trade Promotion Organisation (TNTPO), Poompuhar Shipping Corp., TN Fibrenet Corp., etc.

Trustee in major (GoI) ports like Chennai Port Trust, VOC Port Trust, Tuticorin.

Current Interests: After his superannuation in September 2021, Dr. Ranjan continues to be active in advisory and public policy advocacy space. He is the Co-Chairman of the Sixth Common Review Mission of the Ministry of Rural Department (GoI) for independently assessing the implementation of the various schemes of the govt. He is an honorary Sr. Adviser to National Coop. Dev. Corp. (NCDC), a statutory Corp. under the newly created Ministry of Cooperation (GoI) setup for the growth, development and financing of the cooperatives in the country. He is the founder Director of the IPL Centre for Rural Outreach (ICRO), involved in CSR activities housed in the National Productivity Council (NPC), DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry (GoI) which is tasked with propagating the productivity culture in all sectors of the Indian economy. He is involved in creating awareness on Environment, Social, Governance (ESG) parameters for industry transformation for Atmanirbhar Bharat by conducting National Workshops on ESG for PSUs/Private Sector etc.

He is passionate about developing people, systems and building winning teams for improving governance in various domains and contributing to the society. He has written several articles, book chapters on different topics and also co-authored a book. He is an avid reader, golfer, runner and public speaker.