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The leadership changes at the top come at a time when SAIL, like many other companies in the steel sector, is facing intense pressure on its margins due to the downturn in the steel market , a problem that has been compounded in the last year and a half due to surge in cheap imports. Ratings agency CARE Ratings recently downgraded the credit rating for SAIL from AAA to AA+ due to subdued financial performance. In the nine month period (April-Dec 2015), the company had posted a net loss of Rs 2,906 crore against a net profit of Rs 1,758 crore in the same period last year.Prior to his appointment as CEO of DSP, Rath was Executive Director (Projects) of IISCO Steel Plant, Burnpur, SAIL. Similarly, before his elevation to the top job at RSP, Ashwini Kumar was the Executive Director (Works) of the plant. A BE in Metallurgy from IIT, Roorkee the latter had joined Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) of SAIL as a graduate engineer trainee in April 1980.
Rath, an alumnus of National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, in Electrical Engineering, started his career in Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) in 1982. During his long career in RSP, he proved his mettle in electrical maintenance and repair of large electrical machines. He also developed a network based online system for effective maintenance of electrical equipment at RSP. Rath had joined IISCO Steel Plant (ISP) in 2010 at a critical juncture when it was undergoing a 2.5 million tonne expansion project, He subsequently became Executive Director (Projects) at ISP. During his stint in ISP, he was instrumental in starting up of the modernized units like Basic Oxygen Furnace, Continuous Casting Plant, Lime and Dolomite Calcination Plant, Mills complex and others.
