Anil Kumar Chaudhary is the new CMD of Steel Authority of India Ltd

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACCNSE -1.54 %) has approved Anil Kumar Chaudhary's name as the new Chairman and Managing Director of Steel Authority of IndiaNSE -1.62 % Ltd. While an official announcement from SAIL is likely soon, a top government source said this clears the way for Chaudhary, currently the company's director finance, to take charge at the helm of the country's largest state owned steel company, shortly. Chaudhary's tenure as CMD of SAIL is likely to be for a little over 2 years, since he is due to retire on December 31, 2020, according to the official notification issued on September 21. With Chaudhary's appointment pending, the ACC had assigned additional charge of the post of Chairman & Managing Director, SAIL to Saraswati Prasad, Special Secretary & Financial Adviser, Ministry of Steel, following the superannuation of previous chairman Prakash Kumar Singh on June 30, 2018. The decision had surprised industry circles who questioned the move to give a senior bureaucrat additional charge of the country's largest steel company at a particularly challenging time for the industry. Chaudhary has been holding the charge of director finance at SAIL since September 2011. Prior to this, he was working as Executive Director, Finance & Administration (F&A) at SAIL's Bokaro Steel Plant.