Nepanagar (Madhya Pradesh): Bhopal Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) Assistant General Manager (AGM) Naresh Singh has been appointed as Acting Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of Nepa Limited, Asia’s first newsprint manufacturing mill.
BHEL Executive Director M Sridhar issued the orders on Thursday. Singh will continue to handle his responsibilities as BHEL AGM along with his additional charge as CMD of Nepa Ltd. This is the first time a technical officer has been appointed CMD instead of a former Army officer.
Mill workers expressed hope that the factory could regain its position with strong leadership. However, they pointed out that production has stopped due to a shortage of raw materials and the mill urgently requires a financial package.
The new CMD faces major challenges, as officers and employees have not received salaries for around 14 months. Workers claimed that the mill has raw material stock sufficient for only 20–25 days, and even if production resumes, funds for further operations would remain a concern.
Notably, Nepa Limited has had two CMDs in the past 24 months, but production has yet to restart. Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC)state secretary Lalchand Patel demanded immediate resumption of paper production by arranging adequate raw materials.
