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, 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.

Dr Narayan obtained his Ph.D 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 Head of Research and visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore since 2005.

He is a chair professor at the India Gandhi Open National University, New Delhi. The Center for Asia Studies a think tank based in Chennai, and Athena Infonomics Ltd., a Chennai based research and consulting firm, are his other initiatives.