Winds Of Change

As a bureaucrat, Nagendra Nath Sinha, chairman of NHAI and MD of NHIDCL, is used to dealing with challenges even when they come unannounced

- Jayashree Kini Mendes

There’s no room for anxiety and doubt in Nagendra Nath Sinha’s schedule. As chairman of NHAI and MD of NHIDCL, Sinha has his work cut out for him. Considering that the government has accorded the highest priority to infrastructure development, it’s not only road building that takes up his time. The country’s enigmatic geography and equally its people come much in the way when the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways is looking at constructing thousands of kilometres of roads. But the indefatigable bureaucrat is undeterred.

For the last two years, Sinha has held the portfolio of MD of National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL). In March, he was entrusted with the additional responsibility of chairman of NHAI. While Sinha is not complaining, what he would like is a sense of order that will ensure quick work. Over the last couple of years, the ambitious plans to construct 40km of roads per day has largely remained unfulfilled as the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has constantly been stymied with a sluggish land acquisition process. Sinha says, “There is a vision that NHAI and contractors and landowners should set up a system so that their systems and ours work together. There is a dire need to constantly update the work done on the ground, thus eliminating all kinds of disputes – including those that involve parties arguing about different levels of deployment. In the case of contractors, this could relate to material or machinery required to build a road.”

IN THE FAST LANE