New Delhi, Dec 7 : For the first time, a retired official has been appointed as head of a state-owned Maharatna entity, with former Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) chief Arun Kumar Singh on Wednesday being selected as chairman of ONGC. Singh became eligible for the post after the Petroleum Ministry relaxed the age-related criteria. "The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for the appointment of Arun Kumar Singh, ex-CMD, BPCL as chairman, ONGC for a three-year tenure with effect from the date of his assumption of charge of the post," an official order said. Singh is a mechanical engineer from National Institute of Technology, Patna and was director (Marketing) in BPCL between October 2018 and September 2021. He was later elevated as Chairman and Managing director of the company. He retired as BPCL Chairman in October this yead. /IANS