"He (Upadhyay) will join office (of BSNL chief) today," DoT Secretary R Chandrashekhar told PTI.

However, no decision regarding the appointment of chief of MTNL, another public sector telecom major, has been taken, he added.

A search-cum-selection panel had earlier selected Upadhyay, CMD of Telecom Consultants India Ltd, for the BSNL chief's post.

The panel was headed by Sam Pitroda, adviser to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations, and included Cabinet Secretary K M Chandresekhar, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister T K A Nair and Unique identification authority UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani as members for selecting the top officials of the two telecom PSUs.

Upadhyay is a 1975 batch officer of Indian Telecom Services. He holds a B.Tech (Electronics) Degree from I T Banaras Hindu University and MBA (Marketing Management) Degree from the Indira Gandhi Open University.