Ashok Kumar Panda on Saturday took over as chairman and managing director of state-owned Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), succeeding Amarindu Prakash whose term ended on April 1, 2026, news agency PTI reported.Prior to taking over as CMD, Panda was Director (Finance) at SAIL, according to a company statement.Panda joined SAIL in 1992 as a Management Trainee (Technical) after obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and spent more than three decades with the company.Over the years, he has held various operational, financial and commercial roles in various plants and units of SAIL.The company said Panda played a key role in several strategic initiatives during his tenure as Director (Finance), aimed at improving operational efficiency and profitability.After taking charge, Panda said SAIL is gearing up for the next phase of growth and capacity expansion.“SAIL is on track towards the next phase of capacity expansion to 35 million tonnes per annum. Along with the expansion, we will continue to give top priority to safety at all our workplaces,” PTI quoted Panda as saying.He added: “Enhancing raw material security through enhancing domestic mining and exploration of offshore assets will be critical to support our growth ambitions. At the same time, we are committed to expanding our market reach with a greater focus on value-added products, strengthening our brand communication and ensuring sustainable value creation for all stakeholders.”SAIL, under the Ministry of Steel, is India’s largest public sector steelmaker with a production capacity of over 20 million tonnes per annum.