Bokaro: Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) chairperson Soma Mondal is one of the three Indian entrepreneurs who are featured on Forbes’ list of Asia’s Power Businesswomen 2022.
According to the Forbes website, these women were selected “for their achievements in their current role of running a business with sizable revenue and demonstrating strong leadership throughout their career.”
Mondal, 59, became the first woman to chair the SAIL, a government enterprise with a Rs 103,480 crore ($13 billion) annual turnover in 2021–22. SAIL is part of an elite club of 11 state-owned companies called “maharatnas” that have more autonomy compared to other state-owned firms.
She took over the reins of SAIL in 2021, and since then, the firm’s annual revenue has grown by 50 percent to stand at more than Rs 1.03 trillion ($13.7 billion), the Forbes website reported. Profits have surged threefold to stand at Rs 120 billion for 2021–22 fiscal. During that period, the company paid off around Rs 220 billion in debt, says the site.
Bokaro Steel Limited (BSL) became the most profitable plant in SAIL during the last two financial years under the guidance of Chairman Soma Mondal and leadership of Director Incharge Amarendu Prakash. BSL officers and employees also expressed their happiness on their Chairman being featured in the Forbes’ list of Asia’s Power Businesswomen 2022.
Mondal, who is from Bhubaneswar, pursued her bachelors in electrical engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela. She joined the National Aluminium Co and rose to become the director before joining SAIL.
Apart from Soma Mondal, Honasa Consumer co-founder Ghazal Alagh and Emcure Pharma executive director Namita Thapar are on the Forbes list from India.
