Suresh Kumar assumes additional charge as Coal India CMD

Senior bureaucrat Suresh Kumar on Monday assumed the additional charge as chairman and managing director (CMD) of state-owned Coal India Ltd.

Kumar, additional secretary with the coal ministry, has taken over from Central Coalfields Ltd CMD Gopal Singh, who was appointed as interim chairman of the world’s largest coal miner in September last year.

“Ministry of Coal...has entrusted the additional charge of CMD, CIL to Suresh Kumar, Additional Secretary, MoC (Ministry of Coal). He has assumed the additional charge as CMD, CIL with effect from April 23, 2018,” Coal India said in a filing to the BSE.

Singh had succeeded Sutirtha Bhattacharya who retired from the post of Coal India CMD on 31 August 2017. Responding to a question on appointment of full-time CIL chairman, coal secretary Susheel Kumar had recently told PTI, “The process of approval (of full-time chairman) is on...I am not aware of the timelines.”

The government had last year began the hunt for a full-time Coal India CMD and invited applications from professionals from PSUs as well as the private sector. While inviting applications through an advertisement, the government had said “the applicants may submit their applications to the Ministry of Coal”.

The government head-hunter Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) has earlier suggested that the centre may choose an appropriate course of action for selection of CMD for Coal India as it did not find any of the six candidates interviewed as fit for the top post. Coal India accounts for over 80% of domestic coal production.