Process for appointment of Coal India CMD on: Goyal

The government has initiated the process for appointment of Coal India Chairman and Managing Director.

"We have initiated the process for search and selection of Coal India Chairman after getting nod from Cabinet Secretary and we are implementing the process to overcome frivolous and anonymous complaints against the prospective candidate," Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters here.

The minister further said that the step will help in fast tracking the decision making process.

When asked why there has been delay in the appointment of NHPC CMD, the minister said, "The question which you have raised about NHPC chairman, we have inherited it. For for the last four years we were not in power.

"After coming to power we found that in the past the problems aggravated because there were anonymous complaints against the candidates suggested by the PSEB for the post of (prospective) CMD," the minister said.

The post of Coal India CMD has been lying vacant after after Narsing Rao resigned in May. Meanwhile, Additional Secretary A K Dubey has been given the additional charge of CMD of the company on June 26 for a period of three months.

The government had earlier said it was open to hiring chairman and managing director of state-owned Coal India Ltd from the private sector.

He had emphasised that there is need to look for the larger talent pool available in the private sector.

Amid fuel shortages, Coal India, which accounts for over 80 percent of the domestic coal production, is drawing flak for missing the production target. Last fiscal, the company produced 462 million tonnes (MT) coal as against the target of 482 MT.