National highways of India

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Renumbered National Highways map of India (schematic) Renumbered National Highways map of India (Schematic).jpg
Renumbered National Highways map of India (schematic)

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.

Contents

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.

National highways of India
NHs in India

Characteristics

Entrance of National Highway 44, the longest National Highway in India (from Srinagar to Kanyakumari) Jammu Srinagar Highway.jpg
Entrance of National Highway 44, the longest National Highway in India (from Srinagar to Kanyakumari)
National Highway 27 in Gujarat Gujarat India 4 lane highway NH 27 in Saurashtra region.jpg
National Highway 27 in Gujarat
A section of National Highway 24 in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh NH 24 Bareilly 02.jpg
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 101,011 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 101,011 to 200,000 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

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$62 billion) by 2021–22. [12]

Expanding National Highway Network

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.
  1. < 2 Lane, 27517km (30%)
  2. 2 Lane / 2 Lane + PS, 45399 Km (50%)
  3. 4 Lane, 18371 km (20%)
National Highway of India in 2023, 146145km.
  1. < 2 Lane, 14870km (10%)
  2. 2 Lane / 2 Lane + PS, 85096 km (58%)
  3. 4 Lane, 46179km (32%)

Network length

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 territoryState PWDNHAINHIDCL [18] Total length as on 31.03.2019 (km)
Andaman and Nicobar Islands 87331
Andhra Pradesh 6,912
Arunachal Pradesh 1,0352,537
Assam 1,0103,909
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 3202,607
Jammu & Kashmir 4362,423
Jharkhand 3,367
Karnataka 7,335
Kerala 1,782
Lakshadweep 0
Madhya Pradesh 8,772
Maharashtra 17,757
Manipur 1,7511,750
Meghalaya 8231,156
Mizoram 3721422.5
Nagaland 3241,548
Odisha 5,762
Puducherry 27
Punjab 3,274
Rajasthan 10,342
Sikkim 595463
Tamil Nadu 6,742
Telangana 3,795
Tripura 573854
Uttarakhand 6602,949
Uttar Pradesh 11,737
West Bengal 43,664
India total48,590 [19] 7,990132,500 [20]

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

As at end-March and length in kms.

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

State/union territory2005200620072008200920102011201220132014
Andaman and Nicobar Islands300300300300300300300300300300
Andhra Pradesh4472447244724472453745374537453750226590
Arunachal Pradesh392392392392199219921992202720272027
Assam2836283628362836283628362836294029403634
Bihar3537364236423642364236423642410641684467
Chandigarh24242424242424242424
Chhattisgarh2184218421842184218421842184228922893031
Delhi72727272728080808080
Goa269269269269269269269269269269
Gujarat2871324532453245324532453245403238284694
Haryana1468151215121512151215181518163316332050
Himachal Pradesh1208120812081208140914091409150615062196
Jammu and Kashmir823124512451245124512451245124516952319
Jharkhand1805180518051805180518051805217023742968
Karnataka3843384338433843439643964396439646426177
Kerala1440144014401457145714571457145714571700
Madhya Pradesh5200467046704670467050275027506451165116
Maharashtra4176417641764176417641914191425744986249
Manipur959959959959959959959131713171452
Meghalaya810810810810810810810117111711171
Mizoram92792792792792792792710271027122
Nagaland494494494494494494494494494741
Odisha3704370437043704370437043704370444164550
Puducherry53535353535353535353
Punjab1557155715571557155715571557155715571699
Rajasthan5585558555855585558555855585713071807646
Sikkim62626262626262149149149
Tamil Nadu4183446244624462483248324832494349434975
Telangana..........
Tripura400400400400400400400400400509
Uttar Pradesh5599587458745874677467746774781878187986
Uttarakhand1991199119911991204220422042204220422282
West Bengal2325237723772524257825782578268126812908
All India65569665906659066754705487093470934768187911691287

State-wise length of National Highways [22]

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

State/union territory20152016201720192021202220232024
Andaman and Nicobar Islands331331331331331
Andhra Pradesh46705465638369127340
Arunachal Pradesh25132513253725372537
Assam37843821384539093936
Bihar47014839483953585421
Chandigarh1515151515
Chhattisgarh30793078352336053620
Delhi808079157157
Goa262262293293299
Gujarat49714971545666357744
Haryana23072622274131663237
Himachal Pradesh24662642264326072607
Jammu and Kashmir25932601260124232423
Jharkhand26322654266133673367
Karnataka64326503699173357412
Kerala18111812178217821782
Madhya Pradesh51845194805387728941
Maharashtra70487435162391775717931
Manipur17461746174617501750
Meghalaya12041203120411561156
Mizoram13811381142314231423
Nagaland10801150154715481548
Odisha46454838541357625897
Puducherry6464642764
Punjab22392769322832744099
Rajasthan7886790689721034210350
Sikkim309463463463709
Tamil Nadu50064946591867426858
Telangana26872696378637953974
Tripura577805854854854
Uttar Pradesh8483848390171173711831
Uttarakhand28422714284229493106
West Bengal29102956300436643665
All India97991101011120493132500136440

Funding

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

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

See also

References and notes

  1. 1 2 "India's road network grows 59% in last 9 years: Gadkari". 27 June 2023. Archived from the original on 17 September 2023. Retrieved 11 July 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. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017. 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. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. 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. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015. 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. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  13. ↑ "Ministry of Information & Broadcasting".
  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 [ permanent dead link ]". nhai.gov.in.
  29. ↑ "National Highway 536 Archived 25 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine ". India9.com.
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