The government Tuesday named Pravin Kumar Purwar as the new chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) of state-owned telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).

The Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB), considering nine candidates, has selected Purwar to take charge of a new role after current BSNL chairman Anupam Shrivastava demits office in June, 2019.

Telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan was also present in today's meeting.

In May 2018, Purwar was confirmed as a full-time chairman of MTNL, after holding an interim charge.

October 22, 2018 was the deadline by which the selection board has got names that included Vivek Banzal, principal general manager of BSNL, among others.

In 2015, Shrivastava was appointed as the chairman of public sector telecom operator for a period of five years or till the time of superannuation age of 60 years and already completed four years this month.

Shrivastava will be retiring in June this year.

Under Shrivastava, BSNL took many initiatives that included a consumer-first approach, and has led enterprise business to contribute close to 30% of the overall revenue.