Before joining IIM Indore, Saravanan worked as an Assistant Professor at the TERI School of Advanced Studies, New Delhi. He was also a Senior Research Fellow at the Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur where he did his doctoral research on Role of Domestic Courts in the Protection of Foreign Investment through Bilateral Investment Treaties in India.

His broad area of research interests includes International Investment Law, Intellectual Property Law, Environmental Law, and Biotechnology & Legal Regulation.

His work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals, including International Arbitration Law Review, International Journal of Private Law, BRICS Law Journal, Journal of Cleaner Production, and Biotechnology Law Report.