By Ansh Singh
New Delhi: Dilip Oommen, CEO of ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AMNS India) will be retiring and Amit Harlalka has been appointed as the new CEO of the company, while Nobuo Okochi will be the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) as the company announced a new management team.
The company is set to welcome the new CEOs from July 1, 2026 as Oommen's retirement marks a new phase for the company. He has been a part of AMNS India since its Essar Steel days and has successfully led its ownership transition to a joint venture between steel giants ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel.
Harlalka's appointment as CEO from his role as CFO clearly reflects the company's well planned succession plan to ensure a smooth transition and continued smooth running of the operations during the next phase of growth. Harlalka, who has proven his ability to lead financial strategy and capital allocation, will strengthen the company's emphasis on robust and prudent financial planning in its capital intensive growth journey.
Okochi, as the new CFO, will bring his rich experience with Nippon Steel from Asia, Middle East and Africa. With his 40+ years of experience with the Japanese steel giant and efficiently managing its financial environment and large-scale investment during this period, his role in defining the future financial strategy and governance of AMNS India will be vital.
The change of the new leadership and transitioning of AMNS India comes at a right time for the company as it is set to undertake a massive capacity expansion of crude steel production. With its current capacity of 12 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), the company is planning to increase its production capacity to about 40 MTPA to become the country's biggest steel producer. The capacity expansion will include its main plant at Hazira, Gujarat, which will be boosted to 15 MTPA, and a new greenfield plant in Andhra Pradesh. This project will cost more than 70,000 crore.
The Indian steel industry is experiencing tremendous growth with India's growing infrastructure building, urbanisation and government initiatives to promote domestic manufacturing. India is the world's second-biggest steel producer with a capacity of 300 MTPA by 2030. This is opening up a huge growth potential for AMNS India and for it to leverage these opportunities, it requires an effective management.
The partnership between global steel major ArcelorMittal, one of the world's biggest steel manufacturers, and Japan's second-largest steel producer, Nippon Steel, has enabled AMNS India to tap into the scale, technology, finance and manufacturing expertise of both companies. This has facilitated substantial investments to revamp its operations and enhance the quality of products, and diversify into value added products.
With growing investments and capital-intensive nature of steel industry and the current pace of expansion plans, the CFO is vital to the financial management of the company. Okochi, with his 40+ years of experience in finance with Nippon Steel, from various countries, will provide effective investment and financial management for effective planning of future financial performance and strategies of AMNS India.
The departure of Oommen marks the end of an exciting phase with AMNS India which has grown by leaps and bounds under his stewardship from Essar Steel to a fully integrated global steel company, and this has been acknowledged and appreciated by the industry.
The growth of the Indian steel industry is set to be strong, but it is under pressure due to volatile prices of raw materials, competition from global players and need for greener technology.