NHAI revamp to put it on fast track

The prime minister's committee on infrastructure has finalised a proposal for restructuring the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

Sources in the ministry of road and highways say the changes in the NHAI board are aimed at laying more stress on public-private partnership (PPP) projects.

The NHAI may also be empowered to take its own decisions, without forwarding them to the Public Investment Board (PIB).

The proposal has been sent for the Cabinet's approval, which is expected in the coming days.

The sources said one more member to deal with PPP projects will be added to the five permanent members on the NHAI board.

Apart from this, two temporary members will be added to the present tally of four. Sources said these two could be from financial institutions or IIMs.

Currently, apart from the chairman, there are five permanent members, including member (administration), member (finance), and three technical members.

The four temporary members are member (expenditure), member (road transport), member (transport development) and one member from the Planning Commission.

The Cabinet nod would bring to an end around two years of the long-winding process.

The idea was mooted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in January 2005.

The delay was due to the fact that the road transport ministry and the Planning Commission kept passing the responsibility of finalising the proposal to each other.

After the Cabinet clearance, the NHAI Act would be amended to include the proposals. This could take a few months.

Once the restructuring is done, the projects under the national highway development programme (NHDP) will be expedited, sources say.

Sources said the NHAI needed restructuring badly because projects as big as the NHDP need a high level of expertise and knowhow. The move will allow outsourcing of expertise.

Sources said after the restructuring, all NHAI offices could be connected by a WAN network. All toll booths and contractors would also be a part of the network.

An inter-ministerial group (IMG) was set up for the restructuring last year. The group, led by the then secretary in the roads and highway ministry, LK Joshi, submitted its report to the Planning Commission on January 31 this year.

However, the Planning Commission officials said the restructuring was the responsibility of the committee of infrastructure. The commission said it could only present the final proposal to the Cabinet Secretariat. The ministry said the Commission was stalling the IMG report.