Coal India to get new chairman ahead of key meeting

Coal India Ltd will get a new chairman in the next few days, two officials with direct knowledge of the matter said, as the state-owned miner readies a plan to double its output in four years amid a severe shortage that has crippled power plants.

Career bureaucrat Sutirtha Bhattacharya, chairman of India's second-largest coal producer Singareni Collieries, will take over as the head of its bigger rival ahead of a key meeting at Coal India's headquarters on Dec. 30, the officials said.

The world's largest coal miner by output has been without a full-time chairman since June. The appointment comes at a time when the Narendra Modi government is trying to sell a 10% stake in the company and break its near-monopoly by allowing private firms to mine and sell coal.

The officials did not want to be named before an announcement, which may come as soon as this week, but said the meeting is to discuss a detailed plan to raise output to 1 billion tonnes.

Under Bhattacharya, Singareni, majority owned by the state of Telangana, has been able to easily beat its production targets, unlike Coal India that has not met its target for the past several years.

Disruptions by worker unions, a lack of adequate railway lines and less use of machines have dragged Coal India's output. Its unions have threatened to go on a five-day strike starting Jan. 6, opposing the divestment plan and opening up of the industry for the first time in 42 years.