Govt headhunter body recommends B Sairam as next Coal India Chief

Government headhunter PESB has recommended B Sairam, the current CMD of Northern Coalfields Ltd, as the next Chairman of coal behemoth CIL.

The key tasks for a new Coal India CMD would involve addressing operational challenges such as increasing production and improving coal evacuation when there is a great push by the government to ramp up the domestic output to bring down the reliance on coal imports.

Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) is a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd (CIL).

The Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) recommended his name for the key post on Saturday.

PESB said on its website that its recommends the name for B Sairam for the post of Chairman and Managing Director, Coal India Ltd.

The recommendation of the Sairam came after 10 other applicants, including Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of Mineral Exploration And Consultancy Ltd (MECL) and CMD of Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL) -- another CIL arm -- were interviewed for the key post.

The current Chairman of Coal India P M Prasad is set to retire on October 31.

The final decision on the appointment will follow formal procedures and approval by the appropriate authorities.

Boasting over 34 years of experience in the coal sector, Sairam has held key positions such as Director (Technical) at CCL, and Executive Director at Coal India.

He has extensive expertise in mine planning and expansion, operations, sustainable mining, logistics, digitisation, and regulatory affairs.

Coal India which accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output is targeting coal production of 875 million tonnes in 2025-26, with a dispatch target of 900 MT, to meet rising energy demands.

This represents significant growth, as the company is also implementing a strategy to increase dispatch from its mines. During 2024-25, CIL produced 781.07 million tonnes of coal.