The Board of Directors of Tata Steel has appointed Mr. B. Muthuraman, Executive Director (Special Projects) as Managing Director of Tata Steel with effect from 22 July 2001. Mr. Muthuraman takes over from Dr. Jamshed J. Irani, on his retirement.

Mr. Muthuraman, 56, is a B.Tech (Metallurgy) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management with specialisation in Marketing & Finance from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

Joining Tata Steel as a Graduate Trainee in 1966, Mr. Muthuraman acquired a wealth of experience working in various divisions of the Company like operation of blast furnaces, new project development, and project planning. He spent 19 years in sales and marketing of the Company with emphasis on new products and market development, market research, and application engineering. Mr. Muthuraman headed the Marketing Division of Tata Steel from 1st January 1991 to 9th October 1995.

As Executive Director (Special Projects), Mr. Muthuraman was responsible for conceptualising and implementing Tata Steel's new Cold Rolling Mill project at Jamshedpur. He is also Director on the Boards of Tata Pigments Limited and Tata Ryerson Limited.

He is the Executive Council Member of ASPA (Alloy Steel Producers Association) since 1989, and was its Chairman in 1993-94 and 1994-95. He is the Executive Council Member of CII, Eastern Region, since 1991; Chairman of the Raw Material sub-committee, CII (Eastern Region) in 1992-93 and 1993-94; and was Chairman of the Orissa State Committee CII, Eastern Region, in 1997-98. He was also Chairman of the Oil and Gas Equipment division of CII in 1989-90 and 1990-91. He is also on the Board of Governors of the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, and a Council Member of the Indian Institute of Metals, Mr. Muthuraman is currently the Vice-Chairman of CII, Bihar Chapter, as well as of the National Council.