Ethnic Indian to head Malaysian integrated steel mill

Singapore, Jul 25 (PTI) A Singapore banker of Indian origin Ravi Manchanda has taken charge as executive chairman of Malaysia’s biggest steel group. Manchanda was named to the top post of Malaysia’s integrated steel mill Perwaja Holdings Bhd and its parent group Kinsteel Bhd this week. Manchanda was appointed to the position a day before Kinsteel signed a 500-acre iron ore mining contract in the Pahang State on the East Coast of Peninsula Malaysia. Manchanda, 54, is an experienced finance executive having held senior management positions with Banks and financial institutions in Singapore, New York and London. He has also served as a director of Bharti Global Ltd between January 2000 and June 2002. Manchanda has been the group chief executive officer of Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd, the privately-owned flagship of Malaysian businessman Abu Sahid Mohamed, since last July. He takes over from Abu Sahid Mohamed, who has stepped down as the chairman of Perwaja and Kinsteel, both of which are part subsidiaries of Maju. Abu Sahid said the move to bring Ravi into Perwaja and Kinsteel was to give both companies "a strong dose of professional management and to take those companies forward in these trying times". Malaysian media reports said Perwaja was also close to commissioning a new "concentration and palletisation" plant, to process the ore from Pahang. Kinsteel said it would be mining magnetite ore from the Pahang mine in about three to six months on clearing all related mineral exploitation approvals. PTI