OREANDA-NEWS. Digambar Pandurang Deshpande has joined Tata Sponge Iron as the company's new managing director. Tata Sponge Iron, a subsidiary of Tata Steel, is located at Bileipada in Keonjhar, Odisha. Mr Deshpande succeeds Suresh Thawani, who retired on March 31, 2013.

Mr Deshpande acquired his BTech in chemical engineering from IIT Bombay and PGDBM from XLRI, Jamshedpur. He first joined Tata Steel as a GET, and worked under various capacities in Tata Steel in career spanning more than 30 years. He has also served as a chief operating officer at Tata Metaliks for about one year before acting as an executive director there.

Mr Deshpande brings with him a long and rich experience in the industry. During the introductory session with employees, Mr Deshpande expressed his resolve to take Tata Sponge Iron to new heights.