Sampath Gelam

Sustainability Professional with 12 years of experience in driving social programs, policy making, project management & ESG initiatives. Groomed by CXO, adept in agribusiness procurement with farm & social forestry models and expertise in compliances.

Work Experience

Coal India Limited | Dy. Manager(CSR- Project Management & Strategy) | Chhattisgarh

  • Formulated Sustainability & CSR Policy & Guidelines for South Eastern Coalfields Limited (a Subsidiary of Coal India Limited).
  • Handled direct end-to-end implementation of CSR Projects of more than ₹ 4000 million outlay in the sectors of healthcare, sanitation, skill development, school education plantation, etc. 
  • Developed and Executed monitoring and evaluation framework for CSR Projects & Generated data-driven insights for senior management to ensure effective monitoring and more significant impact.
  • Facilitated and attended more than 50 Board Level CSR Committee and appraised Independent Directors, HR-Head, CFO, and CMD about the CSR Projects & their performance.
  • Led a team of 30-plus members to successfully execute over 500 CSR projects worth                    ₹ 8000 million across the country 
  • Designated In charge of COVID-19 Initiatives, wherein directly involved in COVID-related works with the outlay of more than 50 Cr. benefitting more than 1 Lakh people.
  • Key member of Committee for Just Transition Initiatives in SECL, associated to transform the ESG Initiatives for the company.
  • Fostered strategic partnership & liaison with State Govt., District Administration, Public Representatives, land outsees and indirect stakeholders, resulting in ease of mining operations for the company
  • Drove the digital transformation of the CSR dashboard through the Windows-based app with Geo-tagging and real-time monitoring features, improving the accuracy and efficiency of monitoring and reporting of CSR projects by 30%.
  • Streamlined & prepared CSR Annual Report & facilitated data for Business Sustainability reports.
  • Provided operational assistance to settle the land and resettlement claims of villagers, resulting in timely Land Acquisition for coal mines 
  • Coordinated & Liaison with Government including forest clearances to secure permission for opening of new opencast coal mine
  • Achieved visibility for the team’s innovative work by formulating and co-authoring Success Stories for Public Relations & Social Media Campaigns.
  • Initiated a strategic change management to transform & enhance ‘Corporate Employee Engagement’ to maximize cross-functional implementation efficiency in CSR, resulting in an additional manpower of ~1000 hours/annum increase.

 

Grasim Industries Limited | Assistant Manager (Resource Development & Procurement) |Karnataka

  • Designed & Developed marketing Strategies to increase the Eucalyptus resource. 
  • Project Lead for ‘Operation Green Project’, a project for Contract Farming with farmers through agreements to increase the resources. 
  • Developed and Executed a framework for Inventory Assessment of raw materials. 
  • Planning, budgeting, production and distribution of 100 Lakhs plants per annum to the plantation sites and farmers.
  • Handled three satellite nurseries with 10-15 lakhs plants production per annum
  • Led Market Intelligence for assessing the cost of Raw Materials in various districts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh to strategize the District-wise cost optimization in wood procurement, resulting in the cost saving of raw materials by 12%  vs projected cost.  

 

Birla Lao Pulp & Plantation, Aditya Birla Group | Emerging Leadership Programme Participant | Lao P.D.R

  • Leveraged analytics and improved processes to increase the output of Agro-Forestry and Farm Forestry models in Lao P.D.R. 
  • Conducted a detailed analysis of the Advanced Plantation Technique of Birla Lao Pulp & Plantation.
  • Analysed and tracked expenditures of Nursery operations to optimize the cost by carrying out Time & Motion study. 
  • Conducted primary & secondary research on land management of Birla Lao Pulp & Plantations

 

Accomplishments

Chairman's Individual Excellence Award for outstanding contribution in 2023.

Designated Nodal Officer for Swachhta Initiatives in my organization, for which the company received the Ministry of Coal’s Swachhta Initiatives Award 3 times in the last five years.

Consistently ranked among top 5% performers company-wide in annual performance appraisals in all my nine years of working with Coal India Limited.

1st Runners up in 3rd National Sustainability Quiz 2019, organized by United Nations Global Compact Network India.

Successfully achieved 100% placement record as Student Placement Co-ordinator for the PFM-2012 batch at Indian Institute of Forest Management Bhopal. 

Education

Post Graduate Diploma in Forestry Management (major - Development Management), Indian Institute of Forest Management

BE in Electronics & Telecommunication, Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University

Certificates

Certified course on ESG, Bloomberg

Certificate Program in' Training the Trainers, National Productivity Council

Certificate Program in High Impact Corporate Social Responsibility, Administrative Staff College of India

Just Transition Dialogues: Developing Pathways for the Indian Coal Industry, IIT Kanpur 

 

Co/Extra-curricular
  • Elected member of the core team of the Alumni Committee, PGPX. – IIM Ahmedabad
  • Elected Student Placement Co-ordinator for the Batch of PFM2012 at Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal. 
  • 1st Runners up in 3rd National Sustainability Quiz 2019, organized by United Nations Global Compact Network India
  • Participated and won accolades in multiple Cricket Tournaments at college level.

Quick Look

  • Work Experience: 11.8 Years
  • Previous Roles

    Deputy Manager , Coal India Limited

    Assistant Manager , Grasim Industries Limited

    Emerging Leadership Programme Participant , Birla Lao Pulp & Plantation, Aditya Birla Group

  • Function : Project/Program Management
  • Industry/Sector: Energy & Utilities
    Government/PSUs
Work Experience

Coal India Limited | Dy. Manager(CSR- Project Management & Strategy) | Chhattisgarh

  • Formulated Sustainability & CSR Policy & Guidelines for South Eastern Coalfields Limited (a Subsidiary of Coal India Limited).
  • Handled direct end-to-end implementation of CSR Projects of more than ₹ 4000 million outlay in the sectors of healthcare, sanitation, skill development, school education plantation, etc. 
  • Developed and Executed monitoring and evaluation framework for CSR Projects & Generated data-driven insights for senior management to ensure effective monitoring and more significant impact.
  • Facilitated and attended more than 50 Board Level CSR Committee and appraised Independent Directors, HR-Head, CFO, and CMD about the CSR Projects & their performance.
  • Led a team of 30-plus members to successfully execute over 500 CSR projects worth                    ₹ 8000 million across the country 
  • Designated In charge of COVID-19 Initiatives, wherein directly involved in COVID-related works with the outlay of more than 50 Cr. benefitting more than 1 Lakh people.
  • Key member of Committee for Just Transition Initiatives in SECL, associated to transform the ESG Initiatives for the company.
  • Fostered strategic partnership & liaison with State Govt., District Administration, Public Representatives, land outsees and indirect stakeholders, resulting in ease of mining operations for the company
  • Drove the digital transformation of the CSR dashboard through the Windows-based app with Geo-tagging and real-time monitoring features, improving the accuracy and efficiency of monitoring and reporting of CSR projects by 30%.
  • Streamlined & prepared CSR Annual Report & facilitated data for Business Sustainability reports.
  • Provided operational assistance to settle the land and resettlement claims of villagers, resulting in timely Land Acquisition for coal mines 
  • Coordinated & Liaison with Government including forest clearances to secure permission for opening of new opencast coal mine
  • Achieved visibility for the team’s innovative work by formulating and co-authoring Success Stories for Public Relations & Social Media Campaigns.
  • Initiated a strategic change management to transform & enhance ‘Corporate Employee Engagement’ to maximize cross-functional implementation efficiency in CSR, resulting in an additional manpower of ~1000 hours/annum increase.

 

Grasim Industries Limited | Assistant Manager (Resource Development & Procurement) |Karnataka

  • Designed & Developed marketing Strategies to increase the Eucalyptus resource. 
  • Project Lead for ‘Operation Green Project’, a project for Contract Farming with farmers through agreements to increase the resources. 
  • Developed and Executed a framework for Inventory Assessment of raw materials. 
  • Planning, budgeting, production and distribution of 100 Lakhs plants per annum to the plantation sites and farmers.
  • Handled three satellite nurseries with 10-15 lakhs plants production per annum
  • Led Market Intelligence for assessing the cost of Raw Materials in various districts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh to strategize the District-wise cost optimization in wood procurement, resulting in the cost saving of raw materials by 12%  vs projected cost.  

 

Birla Lao Pulp & Plantation, Aditya Birla Group | Emerging Leadership Programme Participant | Lao P.D.R

  • Leveraged analytics and improved processes to increase the output of Agro-Forestry and Farm Forestry models in Lao P.D.R. 
  • Conducted a detailed analysis of the Advanced Plantation Technique of Birla Lao Pulp & Plantation.
  • Analysed and tracked expenditures of Nursery operations to optimize the cost by carrying out Time & Motion study. 
  • Conducted primary & secondary research on land management of Birla Lao Pulp & Plantations

 

Accomplishments

Chairman's Individual Excellence Award for outstanding contribution in 2023.

Designated Nodal Officer for Swachhta Initiatives in my organization, for which the company received the Ministry of Coal’s Swachhta Initiatives Award 3 times in the last five years.

Consistently ranked among top 5% performers company-wide in annual performance appraisals in all my nine years of working with Coal India Limited.

1st Runners up in 3rd National Sustainability Quiz 2019, organized by United Nations Global Compact Network India.

Successfully achieved 100% placement record as Student Placement Co-ordinator for the PFM-2012 batch at Indian Institute of Forest Management Bhopal. 

Education

Post Graduate Diploma in Forestry Management (major - Development Management), Indian Institute of Forest Management

BE in Electronics & Telecommunication, Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University

Certificates

Certified course on ESG, Bloomberg

Certificate Program in' Training the Trainers, National Productivity Council

Certificate Program in High Impact Corporate Social Responsibility, Administrative Staff College of India

Just Transition Dialogues: Developing Pathways for the Indian Coal Industry, IIT Kanpur 

 

Co/Extra-curricular
  • Elected member of the core team of the Alumni Committee, PGPX. – IIM Ahmedabad
  • Elected Student Placement Co-ordinator for the Batch of PFM2012 at Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal. 
  • 1st Runners up in 3rd National Sustainability Quiz 2019, organized by United Nations Global Compact Network India
  • Participated and won accolades in multiple Cricket Tournaments at college level.