State run Coal India Ltd is staring at a longer delay in the appointment of a chairman to oversee the miner after the coal ministry sought the scrapping of a panel of two candidates for the post and proposed widening the search to include individuals outside the company and the government.

The ministry has asked the Public Enterprises Selection Board which handles hiring for state owned firms, to change the selection committee into a search committee to choose the person to head the world’s largest coal miner amid a shortage of the mineral that has hit fuel supplies to power projects across the country.

The PESB may also tap candidates from outside the company they may even belong to the private sector by placing advertisements, said a senior coal ministry official, requesting anonymity.

PESB had recommended the names of Mr DC Garg chairman of Western Coalfields Ltd a unit of Coal India and Mr TK Lahiry chairman of Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. Neither of them could be appointed as chairman as the Central Vigilance Commission didn’t give its clearance to the two candidates.

Another person aware of the development confirmed it.

Mint couldn’t independently ascertain why the coal ministry had suggested scrapping the panel of candidates. The CVC and the coal ministry didn’t give a reason for the delay in clearances.

Coal India accounts for 80% of the country’s total coal supply, mining 431 million tonnes of the raw material annually. The company has been without a formally appointed chairman since February.

(Sourced from livemint.com)