KOLKATA: Soma Mondal has been selected by the Public Enterprises Selection Board as the next chairman of public sector steel major Steel Authority of India Limited.
Her appointment is subject to approval from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC). If the ACC gives its approval, she will make history with the rare distinction of being the first woman chairperson of SAIL NSE -0.51 %. She will also be the first woman to head a major steel company not only in India but also elsewh elsewhere in the world.
The interviews for the appointment to the top job at the country’s largest steel company took place on Monday.
The current chairman of SAIL Anil Chaudhary assumed charge in September 2018 and is due to retire at the end of this year.
Anirban Dasgupta SAIL’S Director Production has been shortlisted by PESB in the second slot. Mandal had taken over as Director (Commercial) of Steel Authority of India Limited in September 2018. Prior to this, she was Director (Commercial), NALCO, Bhubaneswar.
She graduated in Electrical Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Rourkela in 1984. Starting her career as a Graduate Engineer Trainee in NALCO, she was involved in various project implementation activities as a part of the Technology Cell.
She is well known in the Aluminium Industry for her contribution in various Industry forums. She had been instrumental in devising marketing strategies of different products for NALCO in the Domestic & Overseas market and had also been actively involved in launch of various new products by the Company. Under her guidance several systemic improvement initiatives were implemented in Marketing and Materials Management functions at NALCO.
She assumed charge as Director (Commercial) in March 2017 as the first woman director of SAIL, at a time when the company was looking at a major leap forward in marketing volumes out of its modernized plants.
Prasanta Patnaik