Minister’s wish so just 6 months into his job, NHAI chief to go

At a time when the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been set a target to award over 7000 km of national highways for construction during 2007-08 — the highest ever in any given financial year — the government is set to remove the present chairman of NHAI, Pradeep Kumar, who took over only in October last year.

This move comes after the Minister for Road Transport, Ports and Shipping, T R Baalu sought Kumar’s removal and told the Prime Minister’s Office that he wanted another officer for the top job as he was dissatisfied with his performance. Sources said that within days of his taking charge, Kumar and the Minister disagreed over “personnel” changes. And Baalu had first sought Kumar’s removal in January this year, two months after he took over as chairman. Asked why he was not happy with the NHAI chief, Baalu told The Indian Express: “I cannot answer that. I just want work to be expedited.”

Kumar did say that NHAI has been able to award Rs 14,000-crore worth of contracts over six months. Sources said the new candidate for NHAI’s top job is likely to be current Coal Secretary H C Gupta.