Government appoints new NHAI Chairman

NEW DELHI: The government has appointed Yudhvir Singh Malik as the Chairman of National Highways Authority of India ( NHAI). Malik, an 83 batch Haryana cadre IAS officer, was earlier posted as special secretary in Niti Aayog. The outgoing chairman Raghav Chandra, an 82 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer, has been moved to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes as secretary.

Malik will have a huge task at his hands meeting government’s ambitious road construction target of 10,000 km for the current year. Malik will also have to get the work started on the Delhi-Meerut expressway. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been personally monitoring this project and has already told the roads ministry to finish the work within the timeline of two years.

The NHAI has a budgetary funding of Rs 22,000 crore and has been given permission to raise bonds worth Rs 50,000 crore. In the current year, the authority plans to undertake highway construction works of around Rs 70,000 crore.