CONSTRUCTION WORLD Man of the Year - Public Sector

Raghav Chandra Chairman, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Raghav Chandra has been at the helm of paving the roadways for India. Currently, Chairman of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, Chandra has been assigned with the role of developing, operating and maintaining national highways across the country. This is what is known to be the largest ongoing infrastructure programme across the world. Under his leadership, several important changes in the highways programme have been ushered in NHAI´s working. This is evident from the fresh projects that are being awarded by the authority - in full swing - to improve the pace of construction in an efficient and effective manner. Speedy delivery, higher quality and enhanced commuter comfort is on his agenda, as he also shares with us û see the following page. An alumnus of the prestigious St. Stephen´s College, Delhi University, and the Harvard University, USA, where he was an Edward S Mason Fellow, Chandra is an officer from the 1982 batch of the IAS. He has written extensively for national journals on management and economic issues. In Madhya Pradesh, he has been District Magistrate Khandwa and Jabalpur Districts; Founder and Managing Director of the MP Road Corporation; Managing Director of the State Industrial Development Corporation; CEO of the MP Housing Board; Chairman of SEZ Indore; Chairman, Pithampur Auto Cluster; Managing Director of the State Civil Supplies Corporation and Principal Secretary of the Departments of Urban Administration and Revenue. As part of Government of India, he has been the Director in the Ministry of Commerce, Joint Secretary Highways in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Additional Secretary-cum-Financial Advisor for the Ministries of Agriculture and Culture. And, this year, he has been voted as the CONSTRUCTION WORLD Man of the Year - Public Sector. It is with privilege that CW honours this leader and we wish him highways to success in times to come. Letter World's Largest Infrastructure Programme Improvements in the quality of highways, the upgradation of the highway network and development of highways connectivity has very strong multiplier benefits for all sectors of the economy. The NHAI is, accordingly, firing on all fronts to award fresh projects and to improve the pace of construction in an effective and efficient manner. This is reflected in the substantial increase in sales of construction machinery, consumption of bitumen, cement and steel. The projects that are being undertaken today are far more complex than those undertaken earlier. We are, therefore, particularly taking care to provide the requisite safety features and road furniture, which were hitherto overlooked. There is also an enhanced emphasis on prioritising those roads, which carry more freight and connect places of economic importance. Apart from economic efficiency corridors, we will also be focusing on improving the travel experience on the highways by bringing electronic tolling, better highway services such as wayside amenities, emergency response system and Automated Traffic Management Systems. We will also create a network of logistics hubs, which will help regulate the traffic on the highways. A major programme for decongestion of Delhi-Gurgaon corridor has been launched. Expressway planning and roll-out is another significant measure initiated. Overall, project monitoring has improved, and despite the complexity of the new projects, we are going all out to ensure speedy delivery, higher quality and enhanced commuter comfort.