T. V. Somanathan (born 10 May 1965) is an Indian

bureaucrat A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government. The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", wh ...

and IAS officer who is serving as the

Cabinet Secretary of India The Cabinet Secretary (ISO:''मंत्रिमंडळ सचिव'') is the top-most executive official and senior-most civil servant of the Government of India. The Cabinet Secretary is the ''ex-officio'' head of the Civil Services Boa ...

since 30 August 2024. Before this, he served as the Finance Secretary of India (Department of Expenditure). Prior to this appointment, he served as

Additional Secretary Additional Secretary (often abbreviated as AS, GoI or Union Additional Secretary or Additional Secretary to Government of India) is a post and a rank under the Central Staffing Scheme of the Government of India. The authority for creation of thi ...

and Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). He also worked as Director at the

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Group ...

, Washington D.C., where he initially joined under its Young Professionals Program. He is a 1987 batch

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...

(IAS) officer of the

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

cadre.

Education

Somanathan holds a Ph.D. in economics from

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

, an Executive Development Program diploma from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

, Master of Arts and Bachelor of Commerce degrees from

Panjab University Panjab University (PU) is an Indian collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh. Funded through both State and Union governments, it is considered a state university. It traces its origins to the University of the Punjab in Lahor ...

. He is also a Fellow of the

Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) is a professional membership organisation that promotes, develops and supports chartered accountants and students around the world. As of December 2024, it has over 210,000 memb ...

(FCA), the

Chartered Institute of Management Accountants The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) is the global professional management accounting body, based in the United Kingdom. CIMA offers training and qualification in management accountancy and related subjects. It is focused on ...

, London, the Institute of Chartered Secretaries, London, the

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) is the global professional accounting body offering the Chartered Certified Accountant qualification (CCA). Founded in 1904, It is now the fourth-largest professional accounting body ...

, London, the

Institute of Company Secretaries of India The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) is a national professional body in India under the ownership of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India with the objective of promoting, regulating and developing the profession of ...

and the

Institute of Cost Accountants of India The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI), which was previously known as The Institute of Cost & Works Accountants of India (ICWAI) is a professional accountancy body in India. It is under the ownership of the Ministry of Corporate A ...

. Somanathan has published numerous articles and papers on economics, finance, governance and public policy in academic journals and in the Hindu, Business Standard, Business Line, Indian Express, Fortune India, Yojana, Kurukshetra etc. He also was
Young Professional for the World Bank Group
(1996).

Career

Somanathan appeared for the 1987

Union Public Service Commission The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is a constitutional body tasked with recruiting officers for All India Services and the Central Civil Services (Group A and B) through various standardized examinations. In 2023, 1.3 million applica ...

(UPSC) Civil Services Examination and secured an All India Rank of 2nd behind Amir Subhani, who was the topper of the 1987 UPSC Civil Services Examination. Somanathan joined

getting posted in the Tamil Nadu Cadre. Somanathan has served in various positions for both the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

and the

Government of Tamil Nadu The Government of Tamil Nadu () is the administrative body responsible for the governance of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the capital of the state and houses the state executive, legislature and head of judiciary. Under the Const ...

, including as Secretary to the

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of the Chennai Metro Rail Corporation, Principal Secretary in Special Initiatives department and Planning & Development department, Joint Secretary in the

Ministry of Corporate Affairs The Ministry of Corporate Affairs is an Indian government ministry primarily concerned with administration of the Companies Act 2013, the Companies Act 1956, the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008, and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2 ...

in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Commissioner for Commercial Taxes, Tamil Nadu and served as the Finance Secretary of India.

Cabinet Secretary of India

T.V Somanathan took charge as

Cabinet Secretary A cabinet secretary is usually a senior official (typically a civil servant) who provides services and advice to a cabinet of ministers as part of the Cabinet Office. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powe ...

from

Rajiv Gauba Rajiv Gauba (born 15 August 1959; IAST: ) is a retired Indian bureaucrat and IAS officer who served as the Cabinet Secretary of India from 30 August 2019 to 30 August 2024. As of March 2025, he serves as a full time member of NITI Aayog, the ...

on 30 August 2024 after serving as Officer on Special Duty in the Cabinet Secretariat.

Publications

* * * Somanathan, T. V. & Anantha Nageswaran, V (2015)
''The Economics of Derivatives'', Cambridge University Press

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somanathan, T. V. 1965 births Living people Indian Administrative Service officers