Dr. S. Narayan (IAS, 1965 batch), with nearly four decades (1965 to 2004) in Public Service in the State and Central Governments, in Development Administration, was the Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister during 2003-04.

Prior to this assignment, Dr Narayan served the Government of India as Finance and Economic Affairs Secretary, and Secretary in the Departments of Revenue, Petroleum and Industrial Development. As Secretary, Petroleum and Natural Gas, he was responsible for policy formulation and implementation in the hydrocarbon sector. Between 2000 and 2003, in the Ministry of Finance, his responsibilities included formulation of macroeconomic policy for the Government, tariff and taxation policies as well as initiatives for modernizing the capital markets. His special interests include public finance, energy policy, governance issues and international trade.

He belongs to the Tamil Nadu cadre of the IAS, and spent his early career there.

Dr Narayan obtained his PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi. He has an M.Phil (Development Economics) from Cambridge University and Master of Business Management (Finance) from the University of Adelaide. He graduated with an M.Sc (Physics) from the University of Madras (Madras Christian College).

Dr Narayan has single authored one book, edited two books and written numerous policy papers, reports and book chapters. He also writes regularly in newspapers, both locally and internationally on issues relating to Public Policy, Governance, Public Finance, Trade and Energy.

He has been the Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore, since 2005. He was Chair professor at the Indira Gandhi National University from 2010 to 2015.

Athena Infonomics Ltd., a Chennai-based research and consulting firm, are his other initiatives