Ramani, an Indian entrepreneur who donated more than 85% of his wealth to the Sri Sai Trust (by its full name, the Sai Education, Medical, Research and Charitable Trust), which promoted the university.

[1][2] The trust committed to investing ₹320 crore (US$37 million) in building the infrastructure for the university.

Ramani approached the state government in January 2018[4] which led to the introduction of the Sai University Act, 2018.

[2] The Bill was passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in July 2018 together with the bill establishing Shiv Nadar University, the first private universities to be legislated in Tamil Nadu for over 90 years, since the establishment of Annamalai University.

[5][4][6] Jamshed Bharucha was appointed the founding vice chancellor of the university in July 2020[citation needed] and the foundation stone was laid by chief minister (CM) Edappadi K. Palaniswami in August 2020.