Sardana succeeds Prasad R Menon, who retires on January 31 this year. Tata Communications (formerly VSNL) gets a new MD and CEO in Vinod Kumar, who is a director on the company's Board, Tatas said in a statement.

Sardana, who has been with Tata Teleservices for over three years, had expressed desire to resign from the position to take up responsibility with another Tata company.Meanwhile, Srinath would be taking over as the MD and CEO of Tata Teleservices. He would also be one of the additional directors at the company.

According to the statement, Srinath would continue to be a non-executive director on the board of Tata Communications and some of its subsidiary/associate companies such as Neotel.

These changes would be effective from February 1. Since the central government holds 26 per cent stake in Tata Communications, Kumar's appointment would need the government's approval.

Srinath, who joined Tata Communications in 2002 as Director (Operations), was appointed its MD and CEO in February 2007. Under his leadership, Tata Communications transformed form a public sector undertaking into a global communications services provider.

Kumar, who would takeover the reins of Tata Communications, joined the company in April 2004 and was closely associated with the firm's various acquisitions. He also played a key role in helping the company move from a traditional network services provider to a managed services' entity."Srinath has been a great leader and motivating force for Tata Communications; I look forward to working closely with him in his new role," Kumar said.