Naveen Jindal likely to take over as MD after Ravi Uppal's exit

Prior to Uppal's joining in 2012, Jindal was the chairman and managing director

Last Updated : Sep 28 2017 | 9:35 AM IST

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 five-year term would end on September 30.

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 Rs 421 crore in the quarter ended June 2017 from Rs 1,240 crore during the same period last year. It posted a cash profit of Rs 453 crore during April-June 2017 against a cash loss of Rs 463 crore in the same period last year.