PESB recommends N Franklin Jayakumar for NCL CMD

N Franklin Jayakumar has been recommended for appointment as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) by the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB).

The recommendation was made during the PESB selection meeting held on Wednesday (July 8, 2026). Jayakumar is currently serving as Director (Technical), South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL).

His name will now be forwarded to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) for final approval. The appointment will be subject to vigilance clearance and completion of other prescribed formalities.

The post of CMD, NCL fell vacant on December 16, 2025, after the then incumbent B Sairam was appointed as Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of Coal India Limited (CIL) with effect from December 15, 2025.

Subsequently, on December 16, 2025, Coal India Limited entrusted the additional charge of CMD, NCL to B Sairam, who is currently serving as CMD of CIL.

The Public Enterprises Selection Board had advertised the vacancy for the post on February 20, 2026.

A total of 11 candidates appeared before the PESB selection panel. They were:

1. Om Prakash Mishra, Executive Director (Community Development), Coal India Limited
2. Pawan Kumar Mishra, Functional Director (Finance), Central Coalfields Limited
3. Md Anzar Alam, Director (Finance), Eastern Coalfields Limited
4. Darla Sunil Kumar, Director (Finance), South Eastern Coalfields Limited
5. Chandra Shekhar Tiwari, Director (Technical & Operations), Central Coalfields Limited
6. Ramesh Chandra Mohapatra, Director (Technical), Project & Planning, South Eastern Coalfields Limited
7. Ashutosh Dwivedi, Director (Technical), Coal India Limited
8. Sanjeev Kumar Sinha, Director (Technical/Engineering Services), Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited
9. Pankaj Kumar Sharma, Director (Production), National Aluminium Company Limited
10. N Franklin Jayakumar, Director (Technical), South Eastern Coalfields Limited
11. Anup Kumar Satpathy, Principal Chief Safety Officer, South East Central Railway, Ministry of Railways.