Steel Authority of India Limited has announced that Dr. Ashok Kumar Panda, Director (Finance), has joined as Managing Director (CMD), effective May 9, 2026. Dr. Ashok Kumar Panda is a technocrat-cum-finance expert widely recognized for his deep technical knowledge and domain expertise. After completing his B.E. in Electrical Engineering, he joined SAIL as Management Trainee (Technical) in 1992 and completed his Full-Time PGDM and later acquired Ph.D. in Business Management.
Dr. Panda has more than 3 decades of experience cutting across disciplines and hierarchy in different Plants/Units of SAIL. He has major contributions in strategic planning and policy making, production, projects appraisal and execution, marketing and sales, procurement, EBITDA improvement, cost and budget, treasury management, and taxation. Prior to taking over as CMD, he had been working as Director (Finance), where he took measures for improving operational efficiencies through technical interventions, boosting production with product basket enrichment, and revamping major policies and procedures in Operations, Sales and Marketing, HR, and Finance.
He also held the charge of Director (Commercial) for about 9 months, focusing on aligning operations with marketing and finance towards improving sales and reducing inventory, branding, and advertising. Dr. Panda is also serving as a Nominee Director on the board of ICVL, a joint venture of SAIL, and had been Nominee Director in other CPSEs. He has showcased exemplary leadership skills during his entire career and has been influential in bringing about cultural change at every place and level he has worked, leading to significant growth in performance.
Dr. Panda has envisioned strengthening the position of SAIL amongst the top steel producing companies during his tenure as CMD, focusing on value creation for all stakeholders through expansion of capacities, higher volumes, better operational efficiencies, raw material security, workplace safety, cost control, and improved financial performance.
