Madhavan Nambiar

Madhavan Nambiar specializes in the policy and practice of infrastructure development, innovation ecosystems for emerging technologies and industries, and the design and management of governmentindustry partnership. His 36-year record of public service as an officer of the Indian Administrative Service, culminating in his appointment as Secretary to the Government of India at the Ministry of Civil Aviation, has seen policy, programme, and regulatory work across key infrastructure and industrial sectors. Following his tenure in public service, Mr. Nambiar’s work in the private sector has focused on strengthening enterprise governance in technology, finance, healthcare, and aviation sectors. As Secretary, Civil Aviation, Mr. Nambiar led the redevelopment of India’s largest airports, at Delhi and Mumbai; in doing so, he directed the design and deployment of some of India’s largest public-private infrastructure projects. The core financial and coordination frameworks he helped formulate for this effort helped establish the national policy standard. As Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Tamil Nadu State Government’s apex industrial development agency, TIDCO, Mr. Nambiar conceptualized and commissioned the State’s first public-private toll road project, information technology park, and biotechnology park. Mr. Nambiar has also developed policy ecosystems for innovation in emerging technologies and industries. At the Department of Information Technology, Government of India, he led the formulation of India’s first Semiconductor Policy (and accompanying programmes); policy development for electronics hardware manufacturing; the reworking of national law and regulation to facilitate a growing IT industry; and the establishment of India’s first national cyber security and emergency response agency, CERT-IN.
Mr. Nambiar is chairman to the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Kerala, where he helped establish the Institute’s advanced electronics manufacturing startup incubator, ‘Maker Village’; and to Air Works India (Engineering) Private Limited, an aviation maintenance repair and overhaul company. He is independent director on the Boards of Larsen & Toubro Limited, Rediff.com, Air Asia, Encore Asset Reconstruction Private Limited, the Catholic Syrian Bank, and Aster DM Healthcare Limited. He is also advisor to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Limited, and to Hindustan Lever Limited. Mr. Nambiar also chairs the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s Working Group on Innovation and Intellectual Property in the Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) Sector; and the Ministry’s Project Review and Steering Group for a national research and development project focused on 5G solutions for the Indian market. Mr. Nambiar is Fellow at the Judge Business School’s Entrepreneurship Centre, at the University of Cambridge; and a member of the Advisory Board at the School of Systems and Enterprises, at the Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey. He taught public policy for several years at the School of International Public Affairs (SIPA), Columbia University. Mr. Nambiar holds a master’s degree in business administration from the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi, and bachelor’s degree in economics from Loyola College, Madras University.