After remaining headless for almost two years, the national highways authority of India (NHAI) on Monday got a shot in the arm with the appointment of retired IAS officer Rajinder Pal Singh as its chairman for three years.

Singh, a Haryanvi, is a 1976 batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre. His appointment was approved by the appointments committee of cabinet (ACC), headed by the prime minister, after a realisation that the progress of constructions of highways had suffered for want of anybody at helm of affairs to take the policy decisions.

His appointment coming on the day VS Sampath took over as the chief election commissioner came as a double whammy for the Andhra bureaucrats as both are retired hands from their cadre.

Singh, who retired as the secretary, department of industrial policy, has been the chairman and managing director of the Punjab and Sind Bank, a joint secretary in the department of defence production and many positions in the finance ministry since 2005.