Ashok Kumar Panda takes charge as SAIL Chairman and MD

Ashok Kumar Panda has taken over as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). A company statement said he served as Director (Finance) of the Company and also held the additional charge of Director (Commercial) for about nine months prior to his elevation.

“SAIL is on track for its next phase of capacity expansion to 35 million tonnes per annum,” he said, adding strengthening raw material security through enhanced domestic mining and exploration of overseas assets will be critical to support growth ambitions.

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Panda has three decades experience in different plants and units of SAIL. Panda joined the public sector undertaking as a Management Trainee (Technical) in 1992 after a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering. He holds a specialisation in Finance from XIM, Bhubaneshwar, and later acquired Ph.D. in Business Finance.

“We are committed to expanding our market reach with a sharper focus on value-added products, strengthening our brand connect and ensuring sustained value creation,” he said.

Panda is credited with reduction of borrowings by Rs 20,000 crore through deleveraging efforts. The Cost Reduction initiatives include identification of shop-wise technical levers and implementing action plans to resolve inefficiencies towards improving bottom line.

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He also played a key role in determining the fair price of rails supplied to Indian Railways, SAIL said, noting he was instrumental in revising the Fixed Asset Sales Accounting Policy in the public sector undertaking which contributed towards improvement in the bottom line.