About Us

Board of Directors







Mr. Ashish Kumar Gupta( Chief Executive Officer and Whole Time Director )

Mr. Ashish Kumar Gupta has been the Chief Executive Officer and Whole Time Director of ESL Steel Limited (ESL) since 01st October 2022.

With an overall experience of 28 years, he has worked with leading organizations Like Tata Steel and TMILL (Subsidiary of Tata Steel) as the Managing Director. He has extensive experience in Operations- Maintenance Technology, Safety, SPC and TQM in India and abroad.

Mr. Ashish is a graduate in Electrical Engineering from IIT Roorkee (1993 batch) and has completed the General Management Program from XLRI, Jamshedpur and CEDEP (INSEAD), France.

He joined Tata Steel as a Graduate Trainee in 1993 and worked in various positions in steel plant operations from 1993 to 2008. He was the Head of Operations and Maintenance in Cold Rolling Mill from 2002 to 2008. This was followed by a stint as Financial Controller (Head, Business Analysis), in the Flat Products division, from 2008 to 2009. From 2009 to 2017, he managed the logistics for Tata Steel.

He has worked in the capacity of a Managing Director for TMILL (Tata Steel JV), Chairman of TKM India and ISL, Dubai, which are subsidiaries of TMILL in areas of Freight, forwarding and Shipping, respectively. He was also a Board Member of Tata NYK, Singapore.

Mr. Arun Misra( Non-Executive Director )

Mr. Arun Misra - CEO Zinc Business, Vedanta has been leading Hindustan Zinc, the world's second largest integrated producer of Zinc and 5th largest Silver producer since August 1, 2020. Following this in June 2022, Mr Misra has taken on additional responsibility of managing the operations & growth of Vedanta Zinc International which have their mines and concentrator in South Africa. With effect from 1st August 2023, Mr Misra has also been appointed as Executive Director at Vedanta Limited.

Mr. Misra was appointed Deputy CEO, HZL on November 20, 2019, and was elevated to CEO & WTD, Hindustan Zinc Limited from August 1st, 2020.In less than 10 months, he was moved to the Corner Office and placed at the helm of the world's second-largest integrated producer of zinc.

Mr. Misra is the 1st ever Indian Chairperson of the International Zinc Association. He is also the Vice Chairman of CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) Rajasthan and the Vice President of the Indian Institute of Mineral Engineers. Mr. Misra has to his credit published several papers in nationally reputed journals.

Mr. Misra was awarded 'CEO of the Year' and Hindustan Zinc the 'Most Innovative Company of the Year' in the Business Leader of the Year awards. He is also recognized in the 22nd position of the Top 30 CEOs of India list by Startup Lanes. Further, the company under his able leadership has retained its 1st position in Asia-Pacific for the fourth consecutive year and globally 3rd in S&P Global Corporate Responsibility Assessment in 2022 amongst Mining & Metal companies.

After graduating with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from IIT, Kharagpur, Mr. Misra took a Diploma in Mining and Beneficiation from the University of New South Wales Sydney, and another Diploma in General Management from CEDEP, France. He possesses knowledge of TQM, Six Sigma, TPM, and the Malcolm Baldridge Model.

Mr. Misra started his career with Tata Steel as Maintenance Head (Electrical), West Bokaro Coal Washery in July 1988. He brings with him a formidable 33 years of rich and diverse experience in Tata Steel, where he headed various strategic positions and portfolios like Plant Operations, Mining Operations, and Safety & Project Management. In his last assignment at Tata Steel, Mr. Misra worked as Vice President - Raw Materials Division.

Mr. Arun Misra was appointed on the Board w.e.f. 01-09-2023 in the Capacity of Non-Executive Director.

Mr. Subodh Kumar Rai( Non-Executive Independent Director )

Mr. Rai is a metallurgist from IIT-BHU, having more than 4 decades' rich experience in conceptualization, planning, basic & detailed engineering & execution of iron & steel projects in India and abroad.

He Worked with blue-chip organisations like SAIL, MECON, Jindal Steel & Power, and MN Dastur. He has extensively worked with all major integrated steel plants in public and private sector in India and abroad.

He has a profound experience in Consulting engineering services covered preparation of Techno-Economic Feasibility Reports/detailed Project Reports, preparation of Due Diligence Reports/ Asset Valuation reports, restructuring of sick plants, energy audit of iron & steel plants, project management & assistance in erection & commissioning, due-diligence of steel plants under NCLT cases.

He played key role in setting up of 2 MTPA SMS at Durgapur Steel Plant, Slab Caster on EPC basis at Rourkela Steel Plant in consortium with MDH, Germany, SMS & continuous casting project at NINL (now Tata Steel), installation of bar mill & wire rod rolling mills at JSPL, Patratu, setting up engineering and administration team at Jindal Steel Bolivia, leading project team at JSPL, Angul for expansion to 6.0 MTPA, due diligence & asset valuation of stressed assets for bankers and intending bidders. Also, was part of the core team for setting up CNG network at New Delhi.

Mr. Subodh Kumar Rai was appointed in the Board w.e.f. 01-09-2023 in the capacity of Non-Executive Independent Director.

Ms. Poovannan Sumathi( Non-Executive Woman Director )

Ms. Poovannan Sumathi has done her Bachelor of Engineering from erstwhile REC, Trichy currently known as NIT, Trichy and had completed Management Development Programs (MDP's) meant for Engineers working in manufacturing companies at IIT, Mumbai. She has rich and diverse experience across Operations, IT, Projects, Sustainability, CSR, and Legal functions. She also has a background in Corporate Governance and a strong understanding of best practices and processes through which successful organizations are guided.

She has been associated with Vedanta Limited since 1997 and has over decades of rich experience.

Ms. Poovannan Sumathi, Chief Innovation & Transformation Officer, Sterlite Copper, and Group Head- Environment, Health, Sustainability & ESG Communication, joined as Non-Executive Director of Electrosteel Steels Limited (ESL), on 22nd October 2019.

Mr. Thomas Mathew T( Non-Executive Independent Director )

He is the former Managing Director & Chairman-In-Charge of the 'Life Insurance Corporation of India'. He was also the MD & CEO of 'Reinsurance Group of America' for India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. He has four decades of strategic leadership & operational experience in the Life Insurance and Reinsurance industry in India.

Mr. Mathew served as 'Senior Advisor - Insurance' with 'McKinsey and Company'. He was Chairman of the Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India. He has wide experience with multi-national Corporates, serving as Director on the Boards of:

  • Larsen & Toubro Ltd,
  • Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd,
  • Tata power Ltd,
  • Voltas Ltd, and,
  • IFCI Ltd.

Mr. Mathew was member of the Governing Council of MDI Gurgaon, Actuarial Institute of India and also Chairman of the National Insurance Academy, Pune. He has experience in the Banking Sector as Director of 'Corporation Bank'.

He was also a member of the 'Takeover Panel' of SEBI. Presently, Mr. Mathew is Director on the Boards of:

  • L & T Finance Holdings Ltd.
  • L & T Finance Ltd.
  • L & T Infra Credit Ltd.
  • Canara HSBC Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
  • LIC (International), Bahrain

Mr. Mathew is:

  • Post-graduate Diploma in Management,
  • Post-graduate in Economics,
  • Law Graduate, and,
  • Associate of the Insurance Institute of India.

Mr. Mathew is an avid reader, and an acclaimed speaker at various industry forums and seminars.