core sector communique

BREAKING NEWS – CMD (NCL) Shunted Out – Rajib Maitra

The tsunami is ready to hit the top levels of the Coal India Limited (CIL) the nation’s premier coal producer. People in the know are pointing at the signs that are tell tale – with one CMD and  one Directors (Marketing) key post lying vacant along with a straight jacketed Chairman at helm, the rudderless entity will hence forth also have the CMD (NCL) post vacant.

This strange situation is coming about following the CBI raid on the CMD’s residence and office last month. Mr. Vinay Kumar Singh’s fall from grace, sources say, has come about thanks to his alleged nexus with the “duplicate” spare parts king Mr. Akhilesh Agarwal agent of Vulcon. The CBI was also investigating allegations of favoritism against Mr. Singh in the case of procurement of heavy earth moving equipment from an overseas company. 

Mr Singh, who is a Schedule B rank officer (equivalent to a Joint Secretary, GOI) is being shunted out of the NCL to the Coal Ministry as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD). The fact that this is a virtual demotion, need not be overemphasised. While the order has not been posted till this column goes on air, insiders have confirmed that it is under process.

While a demotion in such a high place is almost unprecedented, old timers point out the M. K. Thapar case, where the then CMD of CCL was sent out in a similar fashion on charges of corruption. M.P.Dixit, CMD of SECL, who was locked up in the Tihar Jail last year, is yet to get back his post and is hanging by a thread. Significantly, NCL is CIL’s most profitable subsidiary, while SECL is the largest producer (a member of the 100 million club) among the subsidiaries.

The funny thing is that the CMD (SECL) vacancy, which cannot be filled as the incumbent CMD is under suspension, and is currently being manned by Mr. A. K. Sinha, the Director (Finance) of CIL. Hang on, there is more to this circus. While the SECL HQ is in Bilaspur (Chattishgarh), the CIL Director (Finance) is based out of Kolkata. Which is another rare case of management by absent landlords, as was common in the tea industry of yore – something that is ascribed to be the principal reason of the industry’s woes.

Mr. A K Singh, the CMD (CMPDIL) is slated to take the additional charge of the chair vacated by Mr. V. K Singh. Even Coal India insiders are surprised at these chronic “stop gap arrangements” that are being thrust upon them. CIL in house wags are amused at the way Mr. A. K. Singh is used as an “utility footballer”, rotating from stopper to striker, filling gaps but otherwise failing to make it to the team.

The Singhrauli head quartered NCL is the life line of the NTPC and is already crying from the rooftops about the coal shortages. With the top slot filled by a lame duck, NTPC sources are fearing the worst. For a nation whose hunger for energy is rising phenomenally, NTPC’s fear is enough to send many a chill down the spine.

While many a proposed coal mining project is strapped by matters environmental, NCL has its hands full with capacity expansions. How these projects will be managed to their logical ends by NCL, which as one insider compared to a “headless chicken”, needs to be seen.           

It will not be out of place to mention here that the recent tender for the procurement of 8 shovels of 10 cubic meter capacity has had to be cancelled because of in-house bickering say insiders. The way capacities are sought to be enhanced, there is a further requirement of 5 more electric rope shovels of 20 cubic meters each. Will a headless organisation, under the CBI scanner be able to take these bold decisions to gear up and meet the Nation’s demands? Insiders are skeptical.

NB. There is good news for the Dhanbad Arm of CIL, which is about to get a real successor to its swashbuckling retired Chairman, Mr Partha S. Bhattachharyya. If you still haven’t understood what I am hinting at, here is another clue: the PMO’s final decision may be out by this evening, before the panel constituted on November 26^th 2010 is automatically scrapped.

Watch this space and remember where you read it first!