Jindal likely to take over as MD after Uppal’s exit
With the completion of Ravi Uppal’s tenure as managing director and group chief executive officer (CEO) of Jindal Steel & Power, Chairman Naveen Jindal is expected to take over the role of managing director himself. An announcement is likely to be made on September 30 — Uppal’s last day in JSPL.
Prior to Uppal’s joining in 2012, Jindal was the chairman and managing director. Persons close to the development said the company was not likely to have a group CEO. An internal announcement of three business heads has already been made.
Bharat Rohra, who headed operations at the company’s Angul plant, has been made the CEO for the power business. Rohra had earlier been with NTPC Ltd and Power Grid Corporation.
N A Ansari, who was CEO of JSPL’s Oman business, is the CEO of the entire steel business. Pravin Purang, who was involved with the company’s steel vertical, is the head of the organisational transformation unit, which was launched last month. The organisational transformation vertical works on operational excellence and cost optimisation across all business segments, including logistics. Purang continues to head the group’s procurement business.
A company spokesperson said, "Over the past few years, as part of future-proofing ourselves, we have realigned our business into strategic business units. Each unit is led by an individual with demonstrated competencies for greater focus towards sustained growth and accountability for our businesses.”
JSPL had, last week, announced that Uppal’s fiveyear term would end on September 30.
Rajeev Bhadauria, group director of HR, and Dinesh Saraogi, executive director, serve as whole-time directors on the board of JSPL, overseeing the corporate and technical functions, respectively. The Group Executive Council — comprising 10 leading professionals from various domains — are accountable for imparting leadership and direction to a 50,000-strong workforce, said the spokesperson. "The strong leadership team supported by a core management team of 100 senior employees across departments and locations have exhibited utmost dedication along with the 50,000strong workforce," the company said in an emailed response.
The company has been under pressure ever since the Supreme Court cancelled allocation of captive-coal blocks in 2014. On the back of an improvement in the steel industry, the company narrowed its losses to ~421 crore in the quarter ended June 2017 from ~1,240 crore during the same period last year. It posted a cash profit of ~453 crore during April-June 2017 against a cash loss of ~463 crore in the same period last year.