For many students, graduating from IIM Ahmedabad means a high-paying corporate job is almost waiting at the other end.
Singai G Ramachandran chose something very different.
After completing his MBA from IIM Ahmedabad in 2015, he did not take the usual campus placement route. He stepped into politics instead, beginning a career that would eventually take him from digital campaigning and entrepreneurship to the top of Tamil Nadu’s startup ecosystem.
The Tamil Nadu government has now appointed Ramachandran as chairperson of the Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation Mission, or TANSIM.
FROM PSG COLLEGE TO IIM-A
Ramachandran’s education itself was a long climb.
He studied at PERKS Matriculation Higher Secondary School before completing a diploma in Electrical and Electronics Engineering at PSG Polytechnic College. He then pursued Electronics and Communication Engineering at PSG College of Technology.
At IIM Ahmedabad, he was not just a student. His LinkedIn profile says he served as General Secretary of the Students Affairs Council.
But life after IIM-A did not follow the conventional business school script.
BUSINESS, POLITICS AND DIGITAL CAMPAIGNS
Before entering active politics, Ramachandran worked in business development and went on to try his hand at entrepreneurship.
He founded Campus Cafe, a food outlet aimed at college students, and later co-founded Friend In Knead, an online cake business. In 2017, he founded The Social Media Company, a video content and digital media venture.
Politics soon became another major chapter.
In 2016, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa appointed him State Secretary of the AIADMK IT Wing. He worked on the party’s digital campaigns and helped build its online presence.
He later became the party’s Student Wing State Secretary and contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Coimbatore on an AIADMK ticket.
NOW, A NEW CHAPTER
Ramachandran left AIADMK in July 2026 and joined actor-turned-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam in August.
His latest appointment takes him back to an area that connects several parts of his career: entrepreneurship, technology, digital media and young people.
As TANSIM chairperson, he will be associated with Tamil Nadu’s efforts to build its startup and innovation ecosystem.
It is a striking career arc for someone who once had the option of taking the most predictable road out of IIM Ahmedabad.
Instead, Ramachandran chose politics, built businesses along the way and has now returned to the world of startups, this time from the other side of the table.
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