Krishna Kumar Thakur Recommended as Director (Personnel) of NMDC Limited

NEW DELHI:  The Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) has officially recommended Shri Krishna Kumar Thakur for the position of Director (Personnel) at NMDC Limited. The decision was finalized following a high-level selection meeting held today at 03:45 PM, where 12 senior candidates from various Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and the private sector were interviewed.

Shri Thakur, a 1998-batch officer of the Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS), currently serves as the Director (Human Resources) on the Board of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). His transition to NMDC, a Schedule ‘A’ Navratna PSU under the Ministry of Steel, marks a strategic leadership move within the top tier of India’s state-owned enterprises.

 

 

Selection Meeting Details

The selection process was highly competitive, featuring leadership from NMDC, SAIL, BHEL, and the private sector.

• PESB Meeting No.: 122/2025

• Date & Time: December 23, 2025 | 03:45 PM

• Recommended Candidate: Shri Krishna Kumar Thakur (Director - HR, BHEL)

 

Shortlisted Candidates Interviewed: The board evaluated a diverse group of 12 professionals, including:

• 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).

---

 

Profile of the Appointee: Krishna Kumar Thakur

Shri Thakur brings over 25 years of extensive 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, where he has been instrumental in streamlining HR policies for the engineering giant.

• Career Highlights: * He 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), successfully overseeing the recruitment of 12,000 employees.

  • Led HR at Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) and handled international HR management on secondment with RITES in Saudi Arabia.

 

Role and Future Outlook at NMDC

As Director (Personnel), Shri Thakur will succeed the incumbent, Priyadarshini Gaddam, who is set to superannuate on January 31, 2026. His primary responsibilities at NMDC will include:

• Industrial Relations: Maintaining cordial relations with unions across NMDC's mining complexes in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.

• Talent Management: Aligning HR strategy with NMDC’s expansion plans as India's largest iron ore producer.

• Policy Innovation: Implementing systemic improvements in corporate governance and human capital management.