Known for his laser-sharp insights, Coal India Limited Chairman (CIL) Partha Bhattacharyya has played a momentous role in scaling up an empire which boasts of being the leading corporate employer (employee strength of over four lakh) on the home turf. Whether it’s pioneering in key strategic domains like underground mining and land redemption or bringing more transparency and justness into the functioning of CIL, he has done it all and with élan. Not one to sit on his laurels, Bhattacharyya has risen more in stature by winning the ‘CEO of HR orientation’ award of the Council of the World HRD Congress which was presented to him during the Global HR Excellence Awards Ceremony 2010 in Mumbai recently. While the bubbly is still being toasted in his honour, Bureaucracy Today catches up with him for a short tête-à-tête.
As you congratulate the CIL Chairman on his recent success and prop yourself on the couch, Bhattacharyya, a postgraduate in Physics from Jadavpur University, breaks into an animated ‘Hello’ and floors you with his down-to-earth demeanour. Ask him what awards mean to him and he grins, “Awards are a form of recognition as they give you the spur to go on and continue with your good work. I hope the CIL continues to script more success stories.” The Navratna public sector company recently garnered news for paying the highest ever dividend of Rs 2,210 crore to the Government. At a time, when the market is reeling under an economic downturn, how did CIL gear up to set a record of sorts and how did Bhattacharyya manage to weather the global crisis? “The global meltdown has not impacted us really because CIL meets over 75 percent of the fuel necessities of the country’s power projects and the major requirement of power is ever increasing. The demand is more than the supply and therefore, it calls for a continuous process. Recession is the last thing to happen to CIL,” he says. Terming 2009-10 one of the preeminent years of CIL, Bhattacharyya adds, “This fiscal year was noteworthy for CIL as it enhanced its coal production by 6.8 percent to 431.27 million tonnes, the highest achieved in any year so far. The company as a whole yielded Rs 12,396.47 crore in 2009-10 as compared to the previous year’s figure of Rs 5,744.10 crore and the sales of the company has also grown by 13.74 percent to Rs 52,088 crore. For the second time since the inception of CIL, all coal companies including Eastern Coal Limited (ECL) and Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) have reported profits. CIL is indisputably on a roll.”
The Chairman says that he is awaiting the Government’s nod on his proposition of vending 10% government equity in the company through a market offering. “About 63.10 crore shares will be floated through the IPO and the company will reserve 1% or 6.3 crore shares for CIL employees. There will be better governance and besides Provident fund, pensions and gratuity, this will add to their benefit,” he says.
The CIL signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Coal recently for its pivotal performance areas for 2011 targets. Ask Bhattacharyya to tell us more about it and he quips, “As per the MoU, CIL’s target production and coal off- take have been pegged at 461.5 million tonnes and 465.2 million tonnes respectively. The thrust will be on Research and Development and Corporate Social Responsibility. R&D activities will see a quantum jump from the present Rs 15 crore earmarked annually for the purpose to double that amount. The aim of CIL is, therefore, to generate a designed quantity of coal, both cost-effective and proficient, to ensure the energy security of the nation. And this has to be an incessant process.”
As you chat with the CIL Chairman more, you realise that his gentle demeanour remains unmatched and so does his zest for life. “I love to watch good movies and listen to Manna Dey’s songs when I am not working. It helps me to keep the stress at bay,” he says with a broad smile. Ask him to name one of his favourite songs and he croons a single line of Pukaarta Chala hoon Main and signs off. n
