The government has approved another extension for R.K. Upadhyay, chairman and managing director, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). Upadhyay will continue in his current position till June-end 2014.

Originally, Upadhyay’s tenure was to come to an end in April 2014, however his term was extended by a month by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) following an approval by former Minister of Telecommunications and IT, Kapil Sibal.

Sibal had asked DoT to look at extending Upadhyay’s term as BSNL CMD while holding back the appointment of Anupam Shrivastava, director, consumer mobile services, BSNL as the new CMD.

Shrivastava has been shortlisted to lead the state-owned operator by Public Enterprise Selection Board. The minister was of the view that since Upadhyay’s appointment letter had a clause which provided for extension of his tenure depending upon his performance, DoT should avoid naming his successor till the time he attained the retirement age of 60.