Centre constitutes committee for appointing BSNL Chairman

The Centre on Wednesday constituted a search-cum-selection-committee (SCSC) for appointing a Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) for the state-controlled Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) on an immediate basis.

“The government of India has constituted a Search-cum-Selection Committee (SCSC) under the Chairpersonship of Chairman, PESB (Public Enterprises Selection Board), for appointment on immediate absorption basis to the post of CMD, BSNL in the scale of pay of the post ₹80,000-1,25,000,” the Ministry of Communications said in an official statement.

To this extent, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has invited applications of candidates, including those from the private sector. The committee has kept 3pm on July 22 as the deadline for applications.

About 10 candidates were interviewed last year, but none of them were shortlisted for the position.

This comes weeks after the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved the extension of the additional charge of A Robert J Ravi as the Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for six months, effective April 15, 2026.

For the first time, on July 13, 2024, Ravi, serving as a deputy director general (DDG) – standards, research & innovation at the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), was given the additional charge as chairman of BSNL and MTNL.

In October 2025, the telecom department extended his additional charge for six months.

Ravi, a 1990-batch Indian Telecom Service (ITS) officer, led the state-run telco to a historic turnaround with increased operating profit and average revenue per user (ARPU).

The public sector telco’s average revenue per user (ARPU) has surged by 42% year-on-year to ₹101 in the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2026, compared to the previous fiscal year.

In April 2026, the public-sector telco added 76,175 wireless users, ending the month with nearly 93.02 million subscribers.