Anil Kumar Jha is the New CMD of Coal India

NewDelhi/Bhubaneswar : The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Friday approved the appointment of Mahanadi Coalfields chief Anil Kumar Jha as Chairman and Managing Director of Coal India.

Jha will likely replace Coal Ministry’s Additional Secretary Suresh Kumar, who had recently assumed additional charge as the coal behemoth’s chief.

Mr Anil Kumar Jha on November 1, 2015, took over the charge of Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), a leading subsidiary of Coal India Limited.

Mr Jha is M. Tech. in Mine Planning & Design from the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, Jharkhand, with distinction.He comes with a rich work experience spanning 32 years in the field of mine planning, production, management supervision, direction and control of underground as well as open cast coal mines. He has worked with Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited (CMPDI), Ranchi, for 14 years, planning both opencast and underground mines.

After joining Coal India Limited at the Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) in July 1983, he rose rapidly and has handled various senior positions rising to become the Director (Production & Planning) of MOIL Limited, who is Nominated Owner and Head of Production, Planning, Projects, Quality Control and Mine Safety Divisions and other allied departments including Personnel and Industrial Relations Department.

Shri. A. K. Jha, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) was conferred with the award of “Best Chief Executive” by GeoMineTech at Bhubaneswar. The award was presented to Shri. Jha for his outstanding performance as CMD of MCL during the year 2017-18.

Jha was appointed till his superannuation on January 31, 2020.

“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal for appointment of Anil Kumar Jha, CMD, Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd, as Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Coal India Ltd,” a government statement said.

In fact, Kumar had taken the additional charge from Gopal Singh, Chairman and Managing Director of Central Coalfields Ltd, who was appointed as the interim Chairman of the coal behemoth in September last year after Sutirtha Bhattacharya retired from miner’s top post on August 31, 2017.