Mr. Chandra Shekhar Verma, 51, has taken charge of the office of Chairman, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) today. Prior to this assignment, Mr. Verma was Director (Finance) of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), India’s largest engineering and manufacturing enterprise in the energy-related/infrastructure sector.
Mr. Verma’s prudent financial management and strategic deployment of scarce resources strengthened the competitive position of BHEL. As Director/Finance of BHEL since September 2005, Mr. Verma also had the distinction of spearheading the joint venture initiatives of the company with various state GENCOs. His efforts resulted in the signing of four such agreements with Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra that would leverage the sale of 7 supercritical thermal power plants of BHEL. He also played a key role in the finalisation of various technology agreements of BHEL with Alstom, Siemens, GE and Sheffield Forgemasters.
Spanning nearly 29 years, Mr. Verma’s career profile also covers stints as Director (Finance) of ITI Ltd., as Group General Manager of Indian Railway Finance Corporation, and as General Manager of Delhi Stock Exchange (DSE), besides experience of working in a Financil Institution for about nine years.
Fellow Member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (FCS) and of the Institute of Cost & Works Accountants of India (FICWA), Mr. Verma is a Commerce post-graduate with a Master’s degree in Business Administration and Bachelor’s degree in Law & Legislatures. He has received many awards during his career, including ‘Best CFO Award’ of CNBC-TV 18 in the infrastructure sector for the year 2008-09 and ‘Top Rankers Excellence Award for Best Professional’ for the year 2008. During his tenure in BHEL, the company received the first prize in ‘ICWAI National Award for Excellence in Best Cost Management Practices’.
SAIL, which has been recently accorded the status of ‘Maharatna’ by the Government of India, is currently preparing for divestment of 10% of its equity in two tranches and is implementing a Rs. 60,000-crore modernisation & expansion plan in its plants and mines. With Mr. Verma at its helm and his vast knowledge and experience in support, SAIL is poised to attain greater heights.