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National highways of India

For expressways in India, see Expressways of India. For Indian routes in the United States, see Indian route (United States).

The national highways in India are a network of limited access roads owned by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. National highways have flyover access or some controlled-access, where entrance and exit is through the side of the flyover. At each highway intersection, flyovers are provided to bypass the traffic on the city, town, or village. These highways are designed for speeds of 100 km/h. Some national highways have interchanges in between, but do not have total controlled-access throughout the highways. The highways are constructed and managed by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), and the public works departments (PWD) of state governments. Currently, the longest national highway in India is National Highway 44 at 4,112 km (2,555 mi). India started four laning of major national highways with the National Highway Development Project (NHDP). As of March 2022 India has approximately 35,000 km of four laned National highways.

Renumbered National Highways map of India (schematic)

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) are the nodal agencies responsible for building, upgrading, and maintaining most of the National Highways network. It operates under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The National Highways Development Project (NHDP) is a major effort to expand and upgrade the network of highways. NHAI often uses a public–private partnership model for highway maintenance, and toll-collection. NHIDCL uses Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) model to build, develop and maintain strategic roads in international borders of the country.

In India, National Highways are at-grade roads, whereas Expressways are controlled-access highways where entrance and exit is controlled by the use ramps that are incorporated into the design of the expressway. National Highways follows standards set by Indian Roads Congress and Bureau of Indian Standards.

Map
NHs in India

Characteristics

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Entrance of National Highway 44, the longest National Highway in India (from Srinagar to Kanyakumari)
 
National Highway 27 in Gujarat
 
A section of National Highway 24 in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh

India has 161,350 km (100,260 mi) of national highways as of March 2022 compared to 1,01,011 km in FY 2013–14.[1][2][3] In July 2023, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said total length of the national highways in the country increased by about 59% in the last nine years.[1]

National highways constituted 2.7% of India's total road network, but carried about 40% of road traffic, as of 2013.[4] In 2016, the government vowed to double the highway length from 1,01,011 to 2,00,000 km.[5]

The majority of existing highways are now four-lane roads (two lanes in each direction), though much of this is being expanded to six or more lanes. Some sections of the network are toll roads. Only a few highways are built with concrete. Bypasses have been constructed around larger towns and cities to provide uninterrupted passage for highway traffic. Some existing roads have been reclassified as national highways.

History

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The National Highways Act, 1956[6] provided for public i.e. state investment in the building and maintenance of the highways.

The National Highways Authority of India was established by the National Highways Authority of India Act, 1988. Section 16(1) of the Act states that the function of NHAI is to develop, maintain, and manage the National Highways and any other highways vested in, or entrusted to, it by the Government of India.

In 1998 India launched a massive program of highway upgrades, called the National Highways Development Project (NHDP), in which the main north–south and east–west corridors and highways connecting the four metropolitan cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata) have been fully paved and widened into four-lane highways. Some of the busier National Highway sectors in India were also converted to four- or six-lane limited-access highways.

National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited started functioning as of 18 July 2014.[7] It is a fully owned company of Government of India under Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and was created to develop, maintain and manage the national highways, strategic roads and other infrastructure of India. It was dedicated to the task of promoting regional connectivity in parts of the country which share international boundaries. It is responsible for the development, maintenance and management of National Highways in hilly terrain of North-East part of India, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and Uttarakhand. It works as a specialised agency in high altitude areas and border areas. Apart from highways, NHIDCL is constructing logictic hubs and transport related infrastructure e.g. multimodal transport hubs such as bus ports, container depots, automated multilevel car parking etc.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways adopted a new systematic numbering of National Highways in April 2010.[8] It is a systematic numbering scheme based on the orientation and the geographic location of the highway. The new system indicates the direction of National Highways whether they are east–west (odd numbers) or north–south (even numbers). It also indicates the geographical region where they are with even numbers increasing from east to west starting from NH2 and odd numbers increasing from north to south starting from NH1.[9]

Bharatmala, a centrally-sponsored and funded road and highways project of the Government of India[10] with a target of constructing 83,677 km (51,994 mi)[11] of new highways, was started in 2018. Phase I of the Bharatmala project involves the construction of 34,800 km of highways (including the remaining projects under NHDP) at an estimated cost of ₹5.35 lakh crore (US$64 billion) by 2021–22.[12]

Expanding National Highway Network

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The average speed of NH construction has also seen a significant increase, from a baseline of 12.1 km/day in 2014 rising to 28.3 km/day (143%).

The speed of highway construction reached 37 km per day in 2020-21, a record for fastest highway construction in India.[13]

National Highway of India in 2014, 91287km.

  < 2 Lane, 27517km (30%)
  2 Lane / 2 Lane + PS, 45399 Km (50%)
  4 Lane, 18371 km (20%)

National Highway of India in 2023, 146145km.

  < 2 Lane, 14870km (10%)
  2 Lane / 2 Lane + PS, 85096 km (58%)
  4 Lane, 46179km (32%)

Network length

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Total length of national highways in India in km [14][15]
Year Total length in km
2022-2023
145,240
2021 - 2022
140,995
2020 - 2021
136,440
2019 - 2020
132,995
2018 - 2019
132,500
2017 - 2018
126,500
2016 - 2017
114,158
2015 - 2016
101,011
2014 - 2015
97,991
2013 - 2014
91,287
2012 - 2013
79,116
2011 - 2012
76,818
2010 - 2011
70,934
2009 - 2010
70,934
2008 - 2009
70,548
2007 - 2008
66,754
2006 - 2007
66,590
2005 - 2006
66,590
2004 - 2005
65,569
2003 - 2004
65,569
2002 - 2003
58,112
2001 - 2002
58,112
1991 - 2001
57,737
1981 - 1991
33,650
1971 - 1981
31,671
1961 - 1971
23,838
1950 - 1961
23,798
National Highways in India, by state and union territories and maintaining agency[16][17]
State / union territory State PWD NHAI NHIDCL[18] Total length as on 31.03.2019 (km)
Andaman and Nicobar Islands 87 331
Andhra Pradesh 6,912
Arunachal Pradesh 1,035 2,537
Assam 1,010 3,909
Bihar 5,358
Chandigarh 15
Chhattisgarh 3,605
Dadra and Nagar Haveli 31
Daman and Diu 22
Delhi 157
Goa 293
Gujarat 6,635
Haryana 3,166
Himachal Pradesh 320 2,607
Jammu & Kashmir 436 2,423
Jharkhand 3,367
Karnataka 7,335
Kerala 1,782
Lakshadweep 0
Madhya Pradesh 8,772
Maharashtra 17,757
Manipur 1,751 1,750
Meghalaya 823 1,156
Mizoram 372 1422.5
Nagaland 324 1,548
Odisha 5,762
Puducherry 27
Punjab 3,274
Rajasthan 10,342
Sikkim 595 463
Tamil Nadu 6,742
Telangana 3,795
Tripura 573 854
Uttarakhand 660 2,949
Uttar Pradesh 11,737
West Bengal 4 3,664
India total 48,590[19] 7,990 132,500[20]

Year wise national highways in India, by state and union territory

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As at end-March and length in kms.

Source: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India.[21]

State/union territory 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Andaman and Nicobar Islands 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300
Andhra Pradesh 4472 4472 4472 4472 4537 4537 4537 4537 5022 6590
Arunachal Pradesh 392 392 392 392 1992 1992 1992 2027 2027 2027
Assam 2836 2836 2836 2836 2836 2836 2836 2940 2940 3634
Bihar 3537 3642 3642 3642 3642 3642 3642 4106 4168 4467
Chandigarh 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24
Chhattisgarh 2184 2184 2184 2184 2184 2184 2184 2289 2289 3031
Delhi 72 72 72 72 72 80 80 80 80 80
Goa 269 269 269 269 269 269 269 269 269 269
Gujarat 2871 3245 3245 3245 3245 3245 3245 4032 3828 4694
Haryana 1468 1512 1512 1512 1512 1518 1518 1633 1633 2050
Himachal Pradesh 1208 1208 1208 1208 1409 1409 1409 1506 1506 2196
Jammu and Kashmir 823 1245 1245 1245 1245 1245 1245 1245 1695 2319
Jharkhand 1805 1805 1805 1805 1805 1805 1805 2170 2374 2968
Karnataka 3843 3843 3843 3843 4396 4396 4396 4396 4642 6177
Kerala 1440 1440 1440 1457 1457 1457 1457 1457 1457 1700
Madhya Pradesh 5200 4670 4670 4670 4670 5027 5027 5064 5116 5116
Maharashtra 4176 4176 4176 4176 4176 4191 4191 4257 4498 6249
Manipur 959 959 959 959 959 959 959 1317 1317 1452
Meghalaya 810 810 810 810 810 810 810 1171 1171 1171
Mizoram 927 927 927 927 927 927 927 1027 1027 122
Nagaland 494 494 494 494 494 494 494 494 494 741
Odisha 3704 3704 3704 3704 3704 3704 3704 3704 4416 4550
Puducherry 53 53 53 53 53 53 53 53 53 53
Punjab 1557 1557 1557 1557 1557 1557 1557 1557 1557 1699
Rajasthan 5585 5585 5585 5585 5585 5585 5585 7130 7180 7646
Sikkim 62 62 62 62 62 62 62 149 149 149
Tamil Nadu 4183 4462 4462 4462 4832 4832 4832 4943 4943 4975
Telangana . . . . . . . . . .
Tripura 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 509
Uttar Pradesh 5599 5874 5874 5874 6774 6774 6774 7818 7818 7986
Uttarakhand 1991 1991 1991 1991 2042 2042 2042 2042 2042 2282
West Bengal 2325 2377 2377 2524 2578 2578 2578 2681 2681 2908
All India 65569 66590 66590 66754 70548 70934 70934 76818 79116 91287

State-wise length of National Highways[22]

Note: Yearly data for 2018 and 2020 are not available.

State/union territory 2015 2016 2017 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024
Andaman and Nicobar Islands 331 331 331 331 331
Andhra Pradesh 4670 5465 6383 6912 7340
Arunachal Pradesh 2513 2513 2537 2537 2537
Assam 3784 3821 3845 3909 3936
Bihar 4701 4839 4839 5358 5421
Chandigarh 15 15 15 15 15
Chhattisgarh 3079 3078 3523 3605 3620
Delhi 80 80 79 157 157
Goa 262 262 293 293 299
Gujarat 4971 4971 5456 6635 7744
Haryana 2307 2622 2741 3166 3237
Himachal Pradesh 2466 2642 2643 2607 2607
Jammu and Kashmir 2593 2601 2601 2423 2423
Jharkhand 2632 2654 2661 3367 3367
Karnataka 6432 6503 6991 7335 7412
Kerala 1811 1812 1782 1782 1782
Madhya Pradesh 5184 5194 8053 8772 8941
Maharashtra 7048 7435 16239 17757 17931
Manipur 1746 1746 1746 1750 1750
Meghalaya 1204 1203 1204 1156 1156
Mizoram 1381 1381 1423 1423 1423
Nagaland 1080 1150 1547 1548 1548
Odisha 4645 4838 5413 5762 5897
Puducherry 64 64 64 27 64
Punjab 2239 2769 3228 3274 4099
Rajasthan 7886 7906 8972 10342 10350
Sikkim 309 463 463 463 709
Tamil Nadu 5006 4946 5918 6742 6858
Telangana 2687 2696 3786 3795 3974
Tripura 577 805 854 854 854
Uttar Pradesh 8483 8483 9017 11737 11831
Uttarakhand 2842 2714 2842 2949 3106
West Bengal 2910 2956 3004 3664 3665
All India 97991 101011 120493 132500 136440

Funding

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National Highways Authority of India has enough funds to increase the pace of road building. At the listing ceremony of the National Highways Infra Trust's (NHAI InVITs) non-convertible debentures, the National Highway Infra Trust issued and listed Non-Convertible Debentures or NCDs worth Rs 1,500 crore on the Bombay Stock Exchange, with a long-dated maturity of 25 years.[23]

NHAI collected tolls worth Rs 34,742 crore on national highways in FY22.[24] Additionally NHAI toll revenue will to soar to Rs 1.40 lakh crores in next three years.[25]

Future

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Brownfield National Highway Projects is an upgrading/widening of existing four lane highways into six lane highways which are not controlled access highways.[26]

Trivia

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See also

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References and notes

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  1. ^ a b "India's road network grows 59% in last 9 years: Gadkari". 27 June 2023.
  2. ^ NATIONALHighways construction touches record 37 km per day: Gadkari Archived 9 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine The Hindu. Retrieved 29 August 2021
  3. ^ "Construction of national highways at 10,331 km in 2022-23-MoRTH". 25 April 2023.
  4. ^ Mahapatra, Dhananjay (2 July 2013). "NDA regime constructed 50% of national highways laid in last 30 years: Centre". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  5. ^ "National Highways road length to be increased from 1,01,011 km to 2,00,000 km: Nitin Gadkari". The Financial Express. 17 December 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  6. ^ "The National Highways Act, 1956". Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  7. ^ "NHIDCL Ministry of RT&H".
  8. ^ "Rationalisation of Numbering Systems of National Highways" (PDF). New Delhi: Department of Road Transport and Highways. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  9. ^ "New numbers for national highways". The Times of India. 21 October 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  10. ^ "Bharat Mala: PM Narendra Modi's planned Rs 14,000 crore road from Gujarat to Mizoram", The Economic Times, New Delhi, 29 April 2015, archived from the original on 2 May 2015
  11. ^ "Ministry proposes construction of 20,000 km of roads under Bharat Mala project", The Economic Times, New Delhi, 9 January 2016, archived from the original on 25 March 2016
  12. ^ "Bharatmala Pariyojana - A Stepping Stone towards New India | National Portal of India". www.india.gov.in. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  13. ^ https://pib.gov.in/PressNoteDetails.aspx?NoteId=151870&ModuleId=3
  14. ^ https://morth.nic.in/sites/default/files/Annual%20Report%20-%202021%20(English)_compressed.pdf Archived 16 November 2021 at the Wayback Machine [bare URL PDF]
  15. ^ https://morth.nic.in/sites/default/files/Annual%20Report_21-22-1.pdf Archived 31 July 2022 at the Wayback Machine [bare URL PDF]
  16. ^ "National Highways Summary - Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Government of India". morth.nic.in. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  17. ^ "Welcome to NHAI". www.nhai.org. Archived from the original on 15 February 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  18. ^ "Overview of All NHIDCL Projects" (PDF). nhidcl.com. 15 February 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  19. ^ http://nhai.gov.in/writereaddata/Portal/Images/pdf/AnnualReport201516.pdf Archived 10 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine [bare URL PDF]
  20. ^ https://morth.nic.in/sites/default/files/Summary-of-NHs_1.pdf Archived 15 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine [bare URL PDF]
  21. ^ Table 123: State-wise Length of National Highways 2005 - 2019 Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India
  22. ^ "Reserve Bank of India - Publications".
  23. ^ "NHAI has enough cash to speed up road building: Gadkari at NCD listing event". 28 October 2022.
  24. ^ "Toll worth Rs34,742 crore collected on national highways in FY22".
  25. ^ Mishra, Twesh (6 September 2022). "NHAI toll revenue to soar to Rs 1.40 lakh crores in three years: Nitin Gadkari". The Economic Times.
  26. ^ "Brownfield National Highway Project | CEPT - Portfolio".
  27. ^ "New numbers for national highways Archived 20 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine". Maps of India.
  28. ^ "List of highways in Karnatakaa". nhai.gov.in.
  29. ^ "National Highway 536 Archived 25 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine". India9.com.
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