B. Sairam

Mr. B Sairam took over as Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Coal India Limited (CIL) effective 15 December 2025. He headed Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL) as its CMD, a coal producing subsidiary of CIL, prior to assuming the top chair at CIL.

A coal mining veteran of three and half decades, Mr. Sairam graduated in mining engineering from National Institute of Technology, Raipur. His experience spans across coal mine operations, planning, logistics, and regulatory affairs. He also holds MBA in Energy Management from NTPC School of Business. To acquaint with finer nuances of sustainable energy practices, Mr. Sairam underwent a study on ‘Just Energy Transition’ in Germany and Poland.

As CMD, NCL he played a pivotal role in expansion of Jayant opencast project from that of a 30 Million Tonne Per Annum (MTPA) production capacity to 38 MTPA at a time when the project ran the risk of closure for want of land. With viable structuring of project financing, and developing a compensation and R&R framework, he engineered the shifting of the urban township in a manner that was amicably accepted by the project affected families. Requiring tenancy land to tune of 527 hectares that warranted compensation, this is considered as the largest mining rehabilitation & resettlement programme.

A similar case of Block B of NCL reflects Mr. Sairam’s persistence which resulted in the capacity augmentation from 5.5 MTPA to 10 MTPA. Block B of NCL required forest land of 45 hectares with additional 594 hectares outside the expansion area for overburden dumping. When it faced the headwinds from the Ministry of Environment & Forests, to assuage the situation Mr. Sairam crafted a revised plan eliminating the need for OB dumping which was accepted by MoEF.

As Director (Technical) Central Coalfields he was intensely immersed in the development of coal logistics like tripling of Tori-Shivpur Line to augment coal despatch to upcountry power consumers, hastening First Mile Connectivity projects including North Urimiri CHP-Silo, Forest & Environment Clearances, and project planning of greenfield and brownfield mines.

Soon after taking over he prioritized CIL’s goals as “Increased coal production and improved quality coal supplies remains our core functional area in meeting the energy demand of the country. But aligning with the changing business scenario and energy sector dynamics we are also actively foraying into solar power, critical mineral acquisitions and coal gasification. The company is also committed to sustainable mining practices”.

Mr. Sairam’s decades of coal mining experience and tenacity in tackling arduous jobs adds an edge and heft to his leadership at CIL.