Inder Jit Singh appointed as coal secretary

NEW DELHI: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has cleared appointment of Inder Jit Singh, a 1985 batch Kerala-cadre IAS officer, as the coal secretary.

Singh was the additional secretary, coordination in the cabinet secretariat. The government had on May 1 given the additional charge of coal secretary to mines secretary Anil Mukim following Susheel Kumar's superannuation in April this year.

Singh's appointment comes at a time when 25 coal-based power stations have low coal stock. Coal minister Piyush Goyal had on Monday said the government will auction more coal blocks for power and non-power sectors. He also said that the process to kickstart commercial coal mining is underway.