New Delhi: The Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) has officially recommended Mr. Krishna Kumar Thakur, currently Director (Human Resources) at Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), for the position of Director (Personnel) at NMDC Limited. The recommendation follows a high-level selection meeting held today at 03:45 PM, where 12 senior professionals from various Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and the private sector were interviewed.
Highly Competitive Selection Process
The selection meeting, PESB No. 122/2025, was marked by rigorous evaluation of candidates’ leadership capabilities and professional expertise. The board included senior officials from NMDC, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), BHEL, and representatives from the private sector.
A total of 12 candidates were interviewed:
- Internal NMDC candidates: Shivendra Bahadur Singh (Executive Director), Dharmendra Acharya (GM-HR), and Somnath Acharya (GM-Personnel).
- External PSU leaders: Pawan Kumar (ED, SAIL), Paresh R. Ranpara (Director-HR, Grid-India), and Rai Varghese (CGM-HRM, IREL).
- Private sector: Arjun Kumar Singh (CHRO, Reliance Industries Limited).
Read also: PESB Adds New Contender Shivendra Bahadur Singh to NMDC Director (Personnel) Race
Profile of Mr. Krishna Kumar Thakur
Mr. Thakur is a 1998-batch officer of the Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS) with over 25 years of experience in human resource management, industrial relations, and administrative leadership.
Education: Post-Graduate in Literature and PGDM-HR from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).
Current Role: Inducted into the BHEL Board in July 2023, he has played a key role in streamlining HR policies for the engineering giant.
Career Highlights:
- Headed HR for three major Railway divisions (Solapur, Bhopal, and Mumbai), managing a workforce of over 35,000 employees in the Mumbai Division alone.
- Served as Chairman of the Railway Recruitment Cell (Western Railway), overseeing recruitment of 12,000 employees.
- Led HR at Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) and managed international HR operations during a secondment with RITES in Saudi Arabia.
Role and Responsibilities at NMDC
Mr. Thakur will assume charge as Director (Personnel) following the superannuation of the incumbent, Priyadarshini Gaddam, on January 31, 2026.
His key responsibilities will include:
- Industrial Relations: Maintaining smooth and constructive relations with trade unions across NMDC’s mining complexes in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.
- Talent Management: Ensuring alignment of human resource strategies with NMDC’s growth and expansion plans as India’s largest iron ore producer.
- Policy Innovation: Implementing systemic improvements in corporate governance and human capital management to strengthen organizational efficiency.
About NMDC Limited
NMDC Limited, a Schedule ‘A’ Navratna Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Steel, is India’s largest iron ore producer. The company operates major mining projects in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka and is expanding its operations to meet the country’s growing steel demand. NMDC is recognized for its strong focus on sustainable mining, technological innovation, and industrial development.
