Born on 4 December 1947 at Faizabad, U.P., Mr. Saran secured a Bachelor’s Degree in Mining Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University in 1969. He served Tata Steel for 25 years, starting from their various mines, Paradip Port and Kolkata & Jamshedpur Offices. He rose to the position of Director – Raw Materials, Tata Steel in 1988 & Director of Budgets in 1993. He availed voluntary retirement from 31 March, 1994. Mr. Saran founded the VISA Group in April 1994 and has built it up from scratch to a significant minerals and metals conglomerate. Philanthropically, creating and improving educational and medical facilities for the poor in backward districts of Odisha, UP and West Bengal through “VISA Trust”, founded by him and his wife.

Mr. Saran is Honorary Consul of the Republic of Bulgaria for Eastern India; Trustee on the Board of Kalyan Bharti Trust and VISA Trust; Chairman of the Board of Governors, Heritage Law College, Kolkata; Member of National Executive Committee of Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce Industry (FICCI).

Formerly, Mr. Saran was the President of Indian Chamber of Commerce, Kolkata; President of Coal Consumers Association; Trustee on the Board of Chennai Port Trust; Member of Governing Council of the International Chromium Development Association, Paris; Raw Material Committee of the International Iron & Steel Institute, Brussels; CII Eastern Regional Committee; Board of Tata Sponge Iron Limited and Standard Chrome Limited.

Mr. Agarwal holds a Bachelor’s Degree from London School of Economics and a Master’s Degree from Oxford University. He was born in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh and completed his schooling from Mayo College, Ajmer and Cheltenham College, UK. He has almost 24 years of rich experience in the Iron & Steel industry with hands on experience of setting up greenfield projects and international trading business. During 1997 to 2004, Mr. Agarwal developed the international trading business for the VISA Group in minerals and metals including Chrome Ore, Iron Ore, Manganese Ore, Alumina, Ferro Alloys etc. Since 2004, he has built the manufacturing business of the VISA Group from scratch.

Ms. Ritu Bajaj, is a Practicing Company Secretary and a Fellow Member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (FCS). She has 20 years of experience in Corporate Law, Due Diligence, Secretarial Audits and other Allied Laws. She is a certified CSR Professional and has been with a start-up where she was closely partnering with the CEO to drive business performance. Since 2013, she is successfully running a Peer Reviewed Practicing Company Secretaries Firm under the name of RP and Associates. Her core skills include Mergers & Acquisitions, Buyback, National Company Law Tribunal matters, Drafting of Share Purchase and other Commercial Agreements, SEBI Laws and Regulations and other compliances.

Mr. Biswajit Chongdar has worked as Executive Director, In-charge (Marketing) with Steel Authority of India Limited, one of the largest steel producers in the country. During his 38 years of his exposure in SAIL, he has handled Domestic and International Marketing, Logistics and Raw Material sourcing. He is a BE in Civil Engineering from BE College, Shibpur and has attended SAID Business School, Oxford University for an Advance Marketing Course. He has also done Specialised Management Programme at Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata. As a Head of Marketing function of SAIL, he has played a key role in the introduction of new products, devise strategies of marketing, development of new marketing areas, transparent marketing policies and branding etc. He has successfully headed the Marketing Department of SAIL for 4 Years as an Executive Director.

Mr. Dhanesh Ranjan secured a Master’s Degree in Economics from Ranchi University and Diploma in Maritime Law from Lloyd’s Maritime Academy, London. He joined Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) as Management Trainee and retired as Executive Director (Coal Import Group). He served SAIL for 36 years in various positions and offices. He has travelled overseas to several countries in the course of his appointment for facilitating business of the Company. Throughout his career, he has been at the cutting edge of policy making and strategizing in different areas and divisions of SAIL.

Mr. Manoj Kumar is a Mechanical Engineer from BIT Mesra, Ranchi. He has over 30 years of experience of working in various positions in the Iron & Steel industry. He had been accredited with bringing the concept of ABP based procurement into the company and was also responsible was streamlining the operational procurement by entering into Annual Rate Contracts & Vendor Stockings. He had played a key role in the Company’s projects & operations.