Rajiv Gandhi Selected as General Manager (HR), NHSRCL on Deputation

Rajiv Gandhi, formerly Principal Executive Director (RRB) on the Railway Board, has been selected for deputation to the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) as General Manager (Human Resources), with effect from May 25, 2026. Gandhi is an officer of the Indian Railway Personnel Service (IRPS).

NHSRCL is the Special Purpose Vehicle responsible for implementing India's high-speed rail corridor projects, most notably the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train line, and its staffing needs have grown alongside the project's construction timeline, drawing personnel on deputation from the Railway Board and other Central government departments.

As General Manager (HR), Gandhi will oversee human resource functions at NHSRCL, including staffing, recruitment coordination and personnel administration for a project that involves a large workforce spread across construction sites, project offices and technical divisions along the high-speed rail corridor.

Gandhi's earlier role as Principal Executive Director for the Railway Recruitment Boards (RRB) at the Railway Board involved oversight of recruitment processes for the Indian Railways at a national level, a background that aligns closely with the human-resources mandate of his new assignment at NHSRCL.

IRPS officers, who specialise in personnel administration and industrial relations within the Railways, are frequently deputed to allied railway organisations such as NHSRCL, Metro corporations and other Special Purpose Vehicles when HR-specific expertise is required for large infrastructure projects.

The bullet train project has been in an active construction phase across its Gujarat and Maharashtra sections, and human resources management at NHSRCL has taken on increasing importance as the project scales up staffing for both engineering and administrative functions.

The deputation takes effect from May 25, 2026, according to the order.

NHSRCL was incorporated as a joint venture between the Central government and the state governments of Gujarat and Maharashtra specifically to implement the country's first high-speed rail corridor, and its organisational structure combines engineering, land acquisition, finance and human resources functions distinct from those of the zonal Indian Railways administration, given the project's scale and the specialised nature of high-speed rail construction.

Human resources functions at a project-focused organisation such as NHSRCL differ in emphasis from those at the zonal Railways, with a greater focus on contractor and consultant coordination, project-linked recruitment cycles, and staffing for technical roles tied to specific construction milestones rather than the broader cadre-management functions typical of a zonal railway's personnel department.

The Railway Recruitment Boards, where Gandhi previously served as Principal Executive Director, oversee the recruitment process for a large share of Group C and certain Group B posts across the Indian Railways, a system involving multiple regional boards coordinated at the national level, giving him direct prior exposure to large-scale recruitment administration ahead of this deputation.

NHSRCL has periodically drawn officers on deputation from the Railway Board and other Central departments across engineering, finance and administrative functions as the bullet train project has progressed through successive phases of land acquisition, civil construction and systems installation along the Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor.

Gandhi's appointment adds senior HR leadership to the organisation at a stage when the project's workforce needs, spanning both engineering execution and administrative support functions, are expected to remain significant as construction activity continues across the corridor's various sections.

NHSRCL's HR division works alongside its project management units to coordinate staffing across multiple construction packages, each typically managed by separate contractor consortiums working under NHSRCL's overall project supervision.