Bokaro: The Chairman and Managing Director of Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), Polavarapu Mallikharjuna Prasad, has been selected as the new Chairman of Coal India.
Prasad name was recommended by the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) after the interview on May 3, where seven officers including bureaucrats and technocrats were shortlisted for the position.
Sources said that the current chairman Pramod Agarwal’s term ends on June 30, 2023, and the post will be vacant from July 1. PM Prasad is most likely to assume office on that day. The interview, conducted via video conferencing, was held for a duration of 2 hours on May 3.
Prasad, an Osmania University mining engineering alumnus, earned his MTech from ISM Dhanbad. Prasad will bring a wealth of knowledge and skills to his new post, having spent over four decades in the mining industry and holding various senior positions.
Prasad began his career in 1984 as an executive trainee with Western Coalfields Limited (WCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL), and rose through the ranks to become General Manager of the Lingaraj area under Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL). He joined NTPC in May 2015 as Executive Director (Coal mining) and Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) in 2018 as Director Technical (P&P).
Under his direction, NCL was recognised for exceptional environmental conservation activities at the World Environmental Conference in June 2018. In August 2019, he was appointed CMD of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).
He joined Central Coalfields Limited as CMD in September 2020, and the company has grown to new heights under his leadership. In the fiscal year 22-23, CCL achieved its highest-ever production, shipment, and OBR. In addition, the organisation has launched a number of activities aimed at the holistic development of stakeholders.
