Palanivel Thiagarajan

Category:Use dmy dates from September 2019 Category:Use Indian English from September 2019Category:All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English

Dr. Palanivel Thiaga Rajan
Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services Tamil Nadu
Incumbent
Assumed office
11 May 2023
Chief MinisterM. K. Stalin
Preceded byMano Thangaraj
Finance Minister in The Government of Tamil Nadu
In office
7 May 2021 – 10 May 2023
Chief MinisterM. K. Stalin
Preceded byO. Panneerselvam
Succeeded byThangam Thennarasu
Member of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office
25 May 2016
Preceded byR. Sundarrajan
ConstituencyMadurai Central
Personal details
Born (1966-03-07) 7 March 1966 (age 60)
Madurai, Madras State
(now Tamil Nadu), India
PartyDravida Munnetra Kazhagam
SpouseMargaret Thiagarajan
RelationsP. T. Rajan (grandfather)
Children2
Parent(s)Rukmani (mother)
P. T. R. Palanivel Rajan (father)
Alma materThe Lawrence School, Lovedale
National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli (BTech (Hons))
University at Buffalo (M.S., PhD)
MIT Sloan School of Management (MBA)
Websitehttps://www.ptrmadurai.com/

Palanivel Thiaga Rajan (PTR) (born 7 March 1966) is an Indian politician and the current Minister of Information Technology and Digital Services of Tamil Nadu.[1] He was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election in 2016 and 2021 from Madurai Central.[2][3]

Early life

He is the son of the late P. T. R. Palanivel Rajan, who was also a well-known politician and speaker of Tamil Nadu Assembly.[4] His grandfather, P. T. Rajan, was the Chief Minister of Madras Presidency[4] from 4 April 1936, to 24 August 1936.

Following his schooling at The Lawrence School, Lovedale,[5] and Vikaasa School, Madurai, he graduated with a degree in chemical engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli (formerly, Regional Engineering College, Tiruchirappalli). He obtained a master's degree in operations research and a Ph.D. in human factors engineering/engineering psychology at University at Buffalo. He then completed his MBA in financial management at MIT Sloan School of Management.[6] He is a named inventor on a patent held by Barclays Capital Inc.[7]

Corporate career

He began his career in 1990 as an independent consultant in Operations and Systems Improvement.[8] In 2001 he joined Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. as Trader and Co-Portfolio Manager – Firm Relationship Loan Portfolio.[9][10] He quit Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. as Head Of Offshore Capital Markets in the year 2008.[11][12] He then worked for Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore in the Global Capital Markets division. He quit Standard Chartered Bank as managing director, Financial Markets Sales in 2014.[13]

Political career

Thiagarajan was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Madurai Central Assembly constituency in the 2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election. He was re-elected in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election.

He was the Finance and Human Resources Management Minister of Tamil Nadu since May 2021.[14] He has released a White Paper on Tamil Nadu's finances after a long time.[15] In a cabinet reshuffle on 11 May 2023 by the Tamil Nadu government, he was made the Information Technology and Digital Services minister of the state.[16]

Ministry

Designation Portfolio Party Ministry Tenure
Took office Left office
Minister of Information Technology & Digital Services Information Technology and Digital Services[17] DMK M.K.Stalin 11 May 2023 Incumbent
Minister of Finance and Human Resources Management Finance, Planning, Personal and Administrative Reforms, Pensions and Pension allowances. 7 May 2021 10 May 2023

Electoral performance

Tamil Nadu Legislative elections
Elections Constituency Party Result % Votes
2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election Madurai Central DMK Won 42.55%
2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election Madurai Central DMK Won 49.47%

Personal life

He married Margaret, whom he met at University at Buffalo where he was pursuing his Ph.D. while she was pursuing her Master's. They have two sons.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "MK Stalin to head 34-member cabinet: PTR is Finance Minister, Ma Su gets Health". The News Minute. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  2. ↑ "Tamil Nadu - Madurai Central 2016". Election Commission of India. Archived from the original on 22 May 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "Palanivel Thiagarajan Election Results 2021: News, Votes, Results of Tamil-nadu Assembly". NDTV. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  4. 1 2 Rajan, Dr PTR Palanivel Thiaga (6 March 2020). "A Weighty Lineage Rests Easy On His Shoulders". Dr PTR Palanivel Thiaga Rajan. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  5. ↑ "Alumni". Lawrence School. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
  6. ↑ Basu, Soma (5 October 2017). "Unlike a politician". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  7. ↑ Methods and systems for providing structured loan commitment transactions
  8. ↑ "Meet Palanivel Thiagarajan, the next Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu! What are his challenges?". The New Stuff. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  9. ↑ "This Former Lehman Banker Is Betting On Legacy In TN Polls". The Huffington Post. 24 April 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  10. ↑ "From Wall Street to TN assembly polls: Will Thiagarajan be able to make his mark in politics?". CatchNews.com. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  11. ↑ Narayanan, Dinesh. "Wall Street banker P Thiaga Rajan contests elections from temple town Madurai". The Economic Times. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  12. ↑ Manthan India (12 May 2015), The Collapse of Lehman Brothers – An Insider's Perspective with P T Rajan, retrieved 7 May 2016
  13. ↑ Murali D (13 November 2014), Dr P T Rajan, Former Managing Director, Financial Markets, Standard Chartered Bank, retrieved 7 May 2016
  14. ↑ Sivapriyan, ETB (30 May 2021). "Palanivel Thiagarajan: Former banker looks to fix Tamil Nadu's finances". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  15. ↑ "Tamil Nadu releases white paper on economy; says GSDP rate declined by 3% in a decade". The Week.
  16. ↑ "Portfolios of 5 TN mins changed; PTR gets tech, Thennarasu gets finance". DT Next. 11 May 2023.
  17. ↑ ThePrint (11 May 2023). "'Big demotion' for PTR? DMK leader dropped as finance minister in reshuffle, given IT instead". Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  18. ↑ "This American is part of the campaign for Madurai Central". The Times of India. 2 May 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:Politicians from Madurai Category:Tamil Nadu MLAs 2016–2021 Category:Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians Category:National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli alumni Category:University at Buffalo alumni Category:MIT Sloan School of Management alumni Category:Indian investment bankers Category:Tamil Nadu MLAs 2021–2026
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