New Delhi: Bhola Singh has assumed the charge as Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) on January 1. Prior to assuming charge as CMD of NCL, Singh was serving as Director (Technical) in Central Coalfields Limited (CCL). NCL is a Miniratna PSU and a leading subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL) based in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh.
Singh was recommended for NCL's CMD post by the PESB panel on August 26, 2021. He was among 10 candidates who were interviewed by the PESB selection panel. Further, ACC had cleared his appointment for the post on November 29, 2021. According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), Singh has been appointed to the post till January 31, 2024, i.e. the date of his superannuation, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
Singh is a Mining Engineering Graduate from IIT Kharagpur. He has over 34 years of experience in the coal sector. He started his career with NCL only as a Graduate Engineer Trainee in 1987 where he grasped and achieved excellence in production, productivity, safety, environment, and overall mine management.
During his career, he also served in AES (USA-based MNC) as Head of a Greenfield Mining project in Chhattisgarh and Odisha. He was Project Director at Sasan Power Limited catered through a highly mechanized coal mining Project at Singrauli which got the prestigious National Safety Award from the Hon'ble President of India in 2017.
During his stint at CCL, he has done exemplary work for project capacity building with commensurate road & rail evacuation infrastructure in sync with the 1 BT plan. The approval of Mega Greenfield projects, Completion of long pending railway lines for coal evacuation, and award of FMC projects demonstrate his sustainable long-term vision. He has also published many technical papers on blasting and rock fragmentation in journals of national and international repute.
"NCL is going to be immensely benefited from the professional acumen, technical expertise, leadership skills, open communication, and teamwork of Shri Bhola Singh in achieving new heights and benchmarks along with sustainable mining, the Coal PSU said in an official statement on Saturday.