CIL to get a new boss

Calcutta: Coal India could see another rejig at the top, eight months after the Centre appointed an interim head for the public sector miner.

Senior bureaucrat Suresh Kumar is likely to be the new acting chairman and managing director of Coal India.

He will replace Gopal Singh, who was given the additional charge as chairman of the maharatna firm in September last year.

"The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved that Suresh Kumar, additional secretary, ministry of coal, may be entrusted with the additional charge of the post of chairman-cum-managing director, Coal India Limited, till the appointment of a regular incumbent to the post, or until further orders, whichever is earlier," a communication between the ACC secretariat and the coal ministry on April 19 said.

Singh, who will hold the additional charge till the appointment is finalised, is expected to retain his post of the chairman of Central Coalfields Limited - a Coal India subsidiary.

Sources said the recommendation letter to the coal ministry came ahead of the renewal of Singh's additional charge next month.

Based on seniority, Singh was put in charge of Coal India after the government headhunter - the Public Enterprises Selection Board - asked the Centre to choose an appropriate course of action to select a chairman as it did not find any of the six candidates interviewed fit for the post. Incidentally, Singh was among the six candidates interviewed for the post.

While his subsequent appointment had raised eyebrows among a section of coal industry observers, the operational performance of Coal India after Singh assumed charge had improved both in terms of production and offtake on a year-on-year basis.

This will not be the first time that Coal India will be led by a ministry official. Earlier, additional secretary A.K. Dubey had been the chairman between 2014 and 2015.

Coal India Ltd