Union Minister for Urban Development, Kamal Nath is a native of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh and is leading this new position since January 19, 2011. Mr. Nath switched places in Parliament for his new role and left Road Transport and Highways.

A little bit about Mr. Nath’s schooling background: he had primary training at The Doon School and later became a graduate of St. Xavier’s College of the University of Calcutta. While at the University of Calcutta, Mr. Nath studied and received a Bachelor of Arts in Commerce. With this education we can see where he has been an asset to India.

In terms of politics, Mr. Nath has since 1980 been active on the political scene. He started with the parliament in the 7th Lok Sabha in 1980, then was re-elected in 1989 to the 8th Lok Sabha and went onto the 10th Lok Sabha in 1991. Between 1982 and 1983, Mr. Nath sat at the UN General Assembly representing India. For almost the next 10 years since 1991 Mr. Nath would serve as Union Minister of State for the Environment and Forests, Union Minister of State for Textiles, General Secretary of the INC, Union Cabinet Minister of Commerce & Industry, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, as well as elected in the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th Lok Sabhas. Mr. Nath is also active in the Indian National Congress.

In helping the auto industry increase in India, Mr. Nath has recognized the need for road improvements throughout the nation. A challenge to this goal is the weather conditions, which sometimes even destroy the roadways. India will have to incorporate a different road structure that is less destroyable if the road networks are to last longer. Mr. Nath has been given much credit in helping India start a momentum in the nation’s road construction.

From Road Transport and Highway, Mr. Nath has moved onto urban development. He has acknowledged that urban development is a big challenge. However considering what Mr. Nath has already done in India, this should be something he can handle or at least help India get into the right direction.

You can imagine that from all the areas he has served that he has also invested in many industries while in those capacities. Due to this investment Mr. Nath was awarded by the FDI magazine as the FDI Personality of the Year in 2007. Together with the Financial Times Business newspaper, Mr. Nath has been recognized for his efforts in bringing business, tourism and trade to India.