Salil Kumar Nag Taken Charge as UCIL Technical Director, Mine Safety Became Top Challenge

Key Highlights

• Salil Kumar Nag taken charge as Technical Director of Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) in September 2026.
• Nag brings more than 28 years of mining and planning experience, including work at Hindustan Copper Ltd.
• Mine safety, particularly in underground operations, is among the major challenges before the new technical director.
• UCIL operates six underground mines and one opencast mine in Jharkhand, besides its mining and processing operations in Andhra Pradesh.
• Nag was selected by the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) on 22nd June, 2026, after the technical director’s post remained vacant for about a year.
• His tenure comes amid concerns raised by workers organisations over safety, equipment maintenance, vacancies and production performance.

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Jadugoda: Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) new Technical Director Salil Kumar Nag taken charge in September 2026 after a vacancy of about a year. Nag, who has more than 28 years of experience in mining and planning, has worked in both underground and opencast mining. His immediate challenge is expected to be strengthening safety in UCIL’s mines while maintaining production, particularly in its underground operations in Jharkhand.

Safety at Underground Mines Remains a Major Concern

UCIL currently operates six underground mines in Jharkhand, Jadugoda, Bhatin, Narwapahar, Turamdih, Mohuldih and Bagjata besides the Banduhurang opencast mine. Underground mining involves risks related to ventilation, roof stability, vehicle movement, machinery and emergency response. Worker organisations have raised safety concerns following accidents reported at UCIL facilities in recent years. Among the incidents cited are the death of contract worker Jairam Hansda at the Turamdih mill in September 2025 and injuries to contract workers in incidents at Narwapahar and Bhatin. Unions have called for uniform safety standards for regular and contract workers and transparent investigations into accidents.

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Nag was selected for the UCIL Technical Director’s post by the Public Enterprises Selection Board on 22nd June 2026. He was serving as General Manager (Mines) at Hindustan Copper Ltd and has experience in both field operations and planning. He holds a BTech in Mining Engineering and a PGDM in management. According to the information provided, he had earlier increased production by 22% during his tenure as general manager at BHEL’s Tiruchirappalli unit. The PESB selection process involved senior officials from UCIL, Hindustan Copper, MOIL, NLC India and the Department of Atomic Energy.

Production, Equipment and Vacancies Add to the Challenge

Nag also takes charge at a time when several issues have been raised within UCIL over equipment maintenance, manpower and procurement. Employee representatives have alleged delays in spare parts supply, vacancies in technical and mining positions and pending promotions. They have also raised concerns over procurement and contract related practices. These are allegations made by employee representatives and should not be treated as established findings without the outcome of any inquiry. UCIL is the country’s sole Uranium mining company and supplies uranium for the nuclear power programme. The new technical director will therefore have to balance production requirements with mine safety, equipment reliability and workforce concerns as the company moves ahead.

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