The appointments committee of the cabinet gave its approval to this effect, an official spokesman said.
The extension comes amid a tussle which has been going on for some time now between Patel and Verghese Kurien, who heads the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which, in turn, owns the Amul brand. Incidentally, both are long-time associates who together built up a mammoth Rs 7,000-crore milk market in the cooperative sector.