| Governor of Tamil Nadu | |
|---|---|
| Tamiḻnāṭu Āḷunar | |
 | |
 | |
| Style | His Excellency |
| Status | Head of State |
| Reports to | President of India Government of India |
| Residence |
|
| Appointer | President of India |
| Term length | At the pleasure of the president Renewable |
| Inaugural holder | Krishna Kumarsinhji Bhavsinhji (Madras State) Ujjal Singh (Tamil Nadu) |
| Formation | 7 September 1948; 77 years ago (1948-09-07) (asMadras State) 14 January 1969; 56 years ago (1969-01-14) (asTamil Nadu) |
| Salary | ₹350,000 (US$4,100) (per month) |
| Website | www |
Thegovernor of Tamil Nadu is the head of theIndian state ofTamil Nadu.Governors in India have similar powers and functions at the state level as those of thepresident of India at the central level. They exist in thestate appointed by thepresident of India and they are not local to the state that they are appointed to govern. The factors based on which the president evaluates the candidates is not mentioned in theconstitution. The governor acts as the nominal head whereas the real power lies with thechief minister of the state and theircouncil of ministers.
Thecurrent incumbent isR. N. Ravi, who has served since 18 September 2021.
The governor enjoys many different types of powers:
| # | Portrait | Name (born – died) | Home state | Tenure in office | Appointer (President) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | Time in office | |||||
| 1 |  | Colonel Maharaja Raol Krishna Kumarsinhji Bhavsinhji KCSI (1912–1965) | Saurashtra | 7 September 1948 | 12 March 1952 | 3 years, 187 days | C. Rajagopalachari (Governor-General) |
| 2 |  | Sri Prakasa (1890–1971) | Uttar Pradesh | 12 March 1952 | 10 December 1956[§][α] | 4 years, 273 days | Rajendra Prasad |
| 3 | | A. J. John (1893–1957) | Kerala | 10 December 1956 | 1 October 1957[†] | 295 days | |
| – |  | Justice P. V. Rajamannar (1901–1979) Chief Justice, Madras High Court (Acting) | Madras State | 1 October 1957 | 24 January 1958 | 115 days | |
| 4 |  | Bishnuram Medhi (1888–1981) | Assam | 24 January 1958 | 4 May 1964 | 6 years, 101 days | |
| 5 |  | Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar (1919–1974) | Mysore State | 4 May 1964 | 24 November 1964 | 204 days | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| – |  | P. Chandra Reddy (1904–1976) Chief Justice, Madras High Court (Acting) | Andhra Pradesh | 24 November 1964 | 7 December 1965 | 1 year, 13 days | |
| (5) | | Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar (1919–1974) | Mysore State | 7 December 1965 | 28 June 1966 | 203 days | |
| – |  | Ujjal Singh (1895–1983) | Punjab | 28 June 1966 | 16 June 1967 | 2 years, 200 days | |
| 6 | 16 June 1967 | 14 January 1969 | Zakir Husain | ||||
| # | Portrait | Name (born – died) | Home state | Tenure in office | Appointer (President) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | To | Time in office | |||||
| 1 | | Ujjal Singh (1895–1983) | Punjab | 14 January 1969 | 25 May 1971 | 2 years, 131 days | Zakir Husain |
| 2 |  | Kodardas Kalidas Shah (1908–1986) | Gujarat | 26 May 1971 | 15 June 1976 | 5 years, 20 days | V. V. Giri |
| 3 | .jpg) | Mohan Lal Sukhadia (1916–1982) | Rajasthan | 16 June 1976 | 8 April 1977[‡] | 296 days | Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed |
| – | | Justice P. Govindan Nair Chief Justice, Madras High Court (Acting) | Kerala | 9 April 1977 | 26 April 1977 | 17 days | B. D. Jatti |
| 4 | | Prabhudas Patwari (1909–1985) | Gujarat | 27 April 1977 | 26 October 1980[‡] | 3 years, 182 days | |
| – | | Justice M. M. Ismail (1921–2005) Chief Justice, Madras High Court (Acting) | Tamil Nadu | 27 October 1980 | 3 November 1980 | 7 days | Neelam Sanjiva Reddy |
| 5 | | Sadiq Ali (1910–2001) | Rajasthan | 4 November 1980 | 2 September 1982 | 1 year, 302 days | |
| 6 | | Sundar Lal Khurana IAS (Retd) (1918–2007) | Delhi | 3 September 1982 | 16 February 1988 | 5 years, 166 days | Zail Singh |
| 7 | .jpg) | P. C. Alexander IAS (Retd) (1921–2011) | Kerala | 17 February 1988 | 23 May 1990[‡] | 2 years, 95 days | Ramaswamy Venkataraman |
| 8 |  | Surjit Singh Barnala (1925–2017) | Punjab | 24 May 1990 | 14 February 1991[‡] | 266 days | |
| 9 | .jpg) | Bhishma Narain Singh (1933–2018) | Bihar | 15 February 1991 | 30 May 1993[‡] | 2 years, 104 days | |
| 10 | .jpg) | Marri Chenna Reddy (1919–1996) | Andhra Pradesh | 31 May 1993 | 2 December 1996[†] | 3 years, 185 days | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| – |  | Krishan Kant (1927–2002) Governor of Andhra Pradesh (Additional Charge) | Punjab | 2 December 1996 | 24 January 1997 | 53 days | |
| 11 |  | Justice (Retd) M. Fathima Beevi (1927–2023) | Kerala | 25 January 1997 | 3 July 2001[‡] | 4 years, 159 days | |
| – | .jpg) | C. Rangarajan (born 1932) Governor of Andhra Pradesh (Additional Charge) | Tamil Nadu | 3 July 2001 | 17 January 2002 | 198 days | K. R. Narayanan |
| 12 |  | P. S. Ramamohan Rao IPS (Retd) (born 1934) | Andhra Pradesh | 18 January 2002 | 2 November 2004[‡] | 2 years, 289 days | |
| (8) | | Surjit Singh Barnala (1925–2017) | Punjab | 3 November 2004 | 30 August 2011 | 6 years, 300 days | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| 13 |  | Konijeti Rosaiah (1933–2021) | Andhra Pradesh | 31 August 2011 | 1 September 2016 | 5 years, 1 day | Pratibha Patil |
| – | .jpg) | C. Vidyasagar Rao (born 1941) Governor of Maharashtra (Additional Charge) | Telangana | 2 September 2016 | 5 October 2017 | 1 year, 33 days | Pranab Mukherjee |
| 14 |  | Banwarilal Purohit (born 1940) | Maharashtra | 6 October 2017 | 17 September 2021[§][α] | 3 years, 346 days | Ram Nath Kovind |
| 15 | | R. N. Ravi IPS (Retd) (born 1952) | Bihar | 18 September 2021 | Incumbent | 4 years, 62 days | |
