Stainless Spirit

Mr Koushik Majumdar

August 18, 2022    

Ever heard of a person who looks for tough challenges and rejects a life that’s stable and peaceful? Well, let us present to you the mildmannered artist who swings in the symphony of chaos – Mr Koushik Majumdar. He lives in the hope of facing new challenges and finding solutions to them. It’s been 14 years since he has been in the stainless family. He feels he can never leave for he has found his song of life in the madness of the Ferro Alloys furnace. Dive in, to read his incredible story!

Tell us about your life before Jindal Stainless.

I was born and brought up in a small town in the Bankura district of West Bengal. My father was a State government employee and my mother was a homemaker. Ours is a musical family. I used to play Tabla and had even won the State championship twice in youth festivals. I played the Mouth organ as well. In addition to playing Tabla and Mouth organ, I also paint. My father was a singer and also played Tabla. My entire education has been in government-run schools and institutions. My hometown, Bishnupur has three manufacturing companies, including Rohit Ferro Tech. That’s where my career began. Interestingly, our current AVP, Mr Ayapilla Srinivas was working there and was the one who hired me. I took my first steps in the industry holding his hands. He’s been my guide and mentor. I came to Visa Steel after a few years and was getting many calls from Jindal Stainless. This was in 2007. Finally, I joined the Jindal Stainless family on April 2, 2008. I was always in awe of the huge chimney here. Jindal Stainless has Asia’s largest furnace for Ferro Alloys. The kid inside me danced in joy at the prospect of finding out the engineering secrets behind this furnace. I had to come here! There was a lot to learn. The rest is history. 

How has the journey of Jindal Stainless been for you? 

I joined Jindal Stainless as an Associate Manager. I came here during an exciting time. The new furnace was being built at that time. I feel a sense of pride in saying that this furnace was commissioned and built right in front of my eyes. My experience at this plant has been completely satisfying. We worked so hard when we used to make low and medium-carbon silico manganese. We were working with a third-party consultant, Danddeli at that time. There were many instances when I left the plant at 3 AM and there were also times when I came to the plant at 3 AM. But it never bothered me. We had a challenge in front of us, that was all I could see. Once, when I applied for leave specifically to claim my LTA, I was so engrossed in my work that I was in the plant the whole time! Can you imagine doing that? Overall my journey has been very fulfilling. I have worked with many HoDs. Ferro Alloys furnace floors are always filled with challenges. I have managed to find peace in this chaos. It might sound strange to many but that’s my truth. In my heart, I am an artist and I find the symphony of chaos fascinating. The biggest challenge of working in Ferro Alloys is that most of the process is not visible to the eyes. A lot depends on the efficiency of the people. People have more expertise than machines. 

Tell us about your most memorable moment here. 

The box of memories is full. I still remember when Mr U Narayan Reddy and Mr T Srinivasan Mallik were the AVPs, and I was working in the Ferro-manganese complex. There were problems with both furnaces in Ferro Alloys that day. I was assigned the task of managing the furnace here after being asked if I can help. To everyone’s surprise, I managed to take the furnaces to the maximum optimum levels, 36 Megawatts. That was the highest it had ever reached. Another such memory is about working with Danddeli, the oldest Ferro Alloys company in India. We learned a lot from them. It was an absolute joy when we could manufacture low-carbon silico manganese. We failed to scale it up due to tremendous competition in the market. However, it was a feat to be able to produce low-carbon silico manganese in such a huge furnace.

The best thing about our plant is, we have more people at the execution level and fewer in roles that are directional in nature. In my opinion, it helps minimise office politics and allows people to work without creating hassles. As the plant expands its operation, I am eagerly looking forward to the upcoming challenges and opportunities it will present. People often leave because the work is tough but that’s precisely the reason I choose to stay. 

What do you like to do in your free time?

 I am an artist and I particularly love charcoal painting. I can’t say I get a lot of time to paint. However, I try my best to paint whenever possible. I have made portraits of many of my friends, colleagues, and famous personalities. I was even invited to meet the MP of Balasore after he saw my paintings of him. Apart from this, I like to spend time with my daughter. 

What is your message to Jindal Stainless family? 

Those who are new to the plant should be patient and stay with the company. I can vouch that no other manufacturing facility provides learning opportunities as we do. If you want to learn and grow, this is the place for you.