• SAIL performance track: Under Soma Mondal's leadership, SAIL achieved 1 lakh crore in revenue with a 30% increase, improved EBITDA, and reduced debt by more than 50% from 53,000 crores to around 25,000 crores.
• CPSE talent pipeline: While women have led financial CPSEs like PFC and EIL, the candidate pool remains sparse in heavy manufacturing due to historical shop-floor underrepresentation 20 years ago and relocation hurdles in remote plant locations.
• Challenging operational assignments: Overprotective workplace dynamics have often kept women from taking up tough operational roles, requiring female professionals to proactively request challenging assignments from their managers.
• Manufacturing leadership outlook: With enabling policies established and younger women now working directly on shop floors, blast furnaces, and steel melting shops, Mondal expects a woman CEO to lead a steel plant in the coming years.