On May 10, PESB picked Arun Kumar Singh as the next Chairman and Managing Director of BPCL. More Arun Kumar Singh, currently, director, marketing at BPCL and holding additional charge of Director, Refineries, is expected to assume the role of CMD from January 1 after human resources director K Padmakar leaves the company on December 31 on retirement. Padmakar is also holding additional charge of chairman and managing director. The two selections of PESB will have to be ratified by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sources said that the PESB selections indicate the government’s thinking to not let the firm suffer from lack of top executives in case the on-going privatisation process is delayed.