Race for SAIL top post

Commercial Director of the Steel Authority of India Ltd SK Rungta, and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd Director (Finance) PK Bishnoi have emerged as the lead candidates to replace current incumbent VS Jain, who retires at the end of July, as chairman of SAIL.

Sources said the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) had forwarded the names of Rungta as the top candidate and Bishnoi as the number two candidate. The final decision is expected to be announced in a couple of days.

The PESB had been issued orders by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to follow its earlier practice of sending two names for every top PSU position for which it conducted interviews.

Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and his Cabinet colleagues were unhappy with the earlier order that required the board to send only one candidate's name for a particular job.

Despite Rungta and Paswan not seeing eye to eye on earlier occasions, the ministry had forwarded Rungta's name for one of the most important PSU posts in the country.

Rungta and Paswan had differed over the decision to buy coal at spot prices last year after Australian suppliers halted consignments claiming that their mines had been flooded.

Several members of Parliament wrote to the steel minister, raising queries on the spot coal purchases after which he ordered a probe into the decision taken by a committee comprising SAIL directors and joint secretaries from the ministry headed by Rungta.

The Australian mine crisis brought SAIL on its knees, forcing the company to resort to rationing till it booked coal through spot purchases to cope with the severe coal shortages.

When Paswan ordered the probe, Rungta went on long leave before finally returning to his post after his name was cleared.