Dr. Pawan Saluja has over 25 years of professional experience in research, consultancy and construction industries. He is currently working as Chief Operating Officer at MKC Infrastructure Ltd.
His responsibilities include bidding hybrid annuity model/ engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects, checking their financial viability and mobilising resources at project sites. He is currently focusing on getting the design and drawings approved by the Authority Engineer, building a team for EPC projects spanning over 200 km in Punjab at a cost of about Rs 60 billion. He regularly interacts with government officials to resolve issues related to the projects.
Saluja earlier worked as scientist at the Central Road Research Institute, which is part of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Science and Technology. In the past, he has also worked with KCC Buildcon Private Limited on road projects. His main responsibilities were bidding and managing projects from inception till completion. The turnover of KCC Buildcon increased significantly during his tenure. Apart from this, he has worked with DSC Limited, where he was leading the project quality control and quality assurance team and worked as a troubleshooter for the organisation in resolving technical issues in various road projects across India. He was also part of the design team that worked on the road and airport sectors.
In the past five years, Saluja has faced many challenges related to design optimisation and availability of raw materials. One such instance was soil unavailability for a project in Gujarat. For this, his team explored the possibility of an alternative raw material – fly ash. It was used instead of soil to complete the project. Another major challenge was the increase in material prices, which affected the execution and viability of projects. He follows a research-based approach to overcome challenges and execute projects. He believes that going forward new technologies and alternative materials are the key areas of interest in the infrastructure domain. In addition, there is a need to focus on capacity building and proper education at the elementary level.
Saluja holds a master’s degree in civil engineering from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh. He completed his Doctorate of Philosophy in Civil Engineering in 2005 from IIT Roorkee. His family comprises his wife and two children. w