Wanted: A full-time chairperson for India's rare earths champion

At a time when businesses are struggling to get hold of rare earth elements from China, India's state-run producer of these commodities is running without a full-time chairperson and managing director.

- Ayaan Kartik & Nehal Chaliawala

At the 75-year-old IREL (India) Ltd, the post remains vacant since December 2024, when the last CMD Deependra Singh left after nearly a decade at its helm.

Currently, the website of Indian Rare Earths Ltd (IREL) shows the position of CMD as vacant. S.B. Mohanty, the company's director of finance, has taken interim charge of the CMD's office.

The Miniratna firm had put out an advertisement inviting applications for the CMD position in February.

Manufacturers, especially makers of automobiles, are staring at production disruptions after China restricted the export of rare earth elements.

The Indian government and industry are exploring alternatives to reduce reliance on China for these elements that go into several electronic components, particularly motors that drive electric vehicles.

"Indian public sector enterprises are tardy when it comes to filling director and KMP (key managerial personnel) roles as they wait for approval from their parent ministries," said Shriram Subramanian, a corporate governance expert and the managing director of proxy advisory firm InGovern.