Soma Mondal, 

Woman of steel. That’s what Steel Authority of India Limited’s Mondal is. Thanks to her, SAIL’s sales have been on a high since she joined in 2017. In FY20, sales hit its highest-ever figure of 14.23 million tonnes. Exports, too, rose to 1.2 million tonnes in FY20 from 700,000 tonnes in FY17. She also played a role in turning around SAIL as part of its Uday transformation exercise. The steel major made a profit in FY19 and FY20, thanks in a substantial part to the sales and marketing function helmed by her. Mondal became the steel major’s first woman director on the board with an executive function, when she joined it from the National Aluminium Company Limited, where she began her career as a trainee engineer. Recently, the Public Enterprises Selection Board has recommended that Mondal be appointed SAIL’s next chairperson. If that happens, it would be the perfect finale to her public sector career.