With these appointments, the VSNL has nine directors. The others include acting chairman and managing director Amitabh Kumar, director (network) Rajneesh Gupta, director (development) Vinoo Goyal as full time directors, DoT senior deputy director general BR Khurana, and DoT deputy director general SA Tirmizi (both government directors).

The new appointments were awaited since early this year after the company was conferred the navratna status.

Telecom Commission chairman Anil Kumar said, operational freedom will help VSNL emerge as a strong regional and global player. The new appointments provide VSNL the necessary talent to operate in today's commercial world.

Amitabh Kumar said the new part-time directors will add strength to thecompany in this rapidly deregulating and competitive field.

"Telecommunications and information technologies constitute the two most rapidly changing fields and we need a multi-disciplinary team to successfully emerge as a global player in the industry," he added.