The board of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has approved a restructuring package for the organisation. Apart from outsourcing of expertise for financial appraisals and contract management, the board has also approved a flexi-organisation structure depending on the projects being executed by the authority.The proposal would now be put forward to the committee on infrastructure, which would decide whether the board of NHAI itself needs to be expanded. The matter has to be referred to the Cabinet in that case, sources said.At present, the government and NHAI are divided on whether the board needs expansion. However, this was a minor issue as there was little disagreement on the overall restructuring package, added sources. NHAI has five board members and one chairman at present.Sources also revealed that one of the main features of the restructuring package is adoption of new techniques such as PERT/CPM that would enable NHAI to monitor and execute projects better.There is also a proposal to interconnect all NHAI offices with their contractors as well as toll booths across the country through WAN network. This would give NHAI officials real time information on the progress made on each and every project.Under flexi-organisational structure, the staff could ‘‘wax and wane’’ according to the projects being executed by the authority.Restructuring of NHAI has been a key issue considering the delays and cost overruns faced in executing the golden quadrilateral and the east-west-north-south corridors. Added to that, with new projects under NHDP III to VII also being planned, the Planning Commission specifically pointed out that NHAI had to be restructured to take on this mammoth task.
