New Delhi:
The country would not have got its first world-class airport in the national Capital if the Planning Commission was involved in the project, Road Transport Minister Kamal Nath said here on Monday.
Nath, who has locked horns with the Commission over his target of building 20-km-roads-a-day, said when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the new terminal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Saturday, he admirably asked how such a feat was achieved.
"We were there and I asked one of the people (I don't want to name) who were responsible for building this airport: How did you do it....because the Planning Commission and their people had nothing to do with it," Nath said in the presence of Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
He made these remarks while delivering his address as the chief guest at a conference on public-private-partnership in state highways, organised by the Commission here.
However, advisor to the Deputy Chairman,Gajendra Haldea, interjected saying the Commission was very much involved in the Rs 9,000-crore project completed in a record 37 months.
"We were involved in the airport project," Haldea said to which Nath retorted, "You were involved in the beginning."
Haldea responded saying, "So ok, Mr Nath...you mean to say that the Planning Commission should be there at the start of the project and should leave after that."
The minister, who described the Planning Commission as "armchair advisor" said the Commission was "like a buffet table. Bite what you can chew and chew what you can digest."
Besides Ahluwalia and other Commission officials, senior officials from the states were also present at the meeting.
Earlier this year, the Commission had said the ministry was being over-ambitious in its target for building 20 km of roads every day and advised it to be realistic in its approach.
Nath, who has locked horns with the Commission over his target of building 20-km-roads-a-day, said when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the new terminal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Saturday, he admirably asked how such a feat was achieved.
"We were there and I asked one of the people (I don't want to name) who were responsible for building this airport: How did you do it....because the Planning Commission and their people had nothing to do with it," Nath said in the presence of Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
He made these remarks while delivering his address as the chief guest at a conference on public-private-partnership in state highways, organised by the Commission here.
However, advisor to the Deputy Chairman,Gajendra Haldea, interjected saying the Commission was very much involved in the Rs 9,000-crore project completed in a record 37 months.
"We were involved in the airport project," Haldea said to which Nath retorted, "You were involved in the beginning."
Haldea responded saying, "So ok, Mr Nath...you mean to say that the Planning Commission should be there at the start of the project and should leave after that."
The minister, who described the Planning Commission as "armchair advisor" said the Commission was "like a buffet table. Bite what you can chew and chew what you can digest."
Besides Ahluwalia and other Commission officials, senior officials from the states were also present at the meeting.
Earlier this year, the Commission had said the ministry was being over-ambitious in its target for building 20 km of roads every day and advised it to be realistic in its approach.
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