The road network in Nepal plays a vital role in connecting its diverse geographical and cultural landscapes. As a landlocked country nestled in the Himalayas, Nepal faces unique challenges in road construction and maintenance, yet significant strides have been made to improve transportation infrastructure.
The development of roadways in Nepal began in earnest during the 1950s. Prior to that, the country relied heavily on ancient footpaths, mule tracks, and river transportation. The construction of the Tribhuvan Highway in 1956 marked the beginning of modern road infrastructure in Nepal. This highway connected Kathmandu, the capital city, to the Indian border town of Raxaul, facilitating trade and travel.
Nepal Road Standard (1970–2020)
The first Nepal Road Standard introduced by the Department of roads in 1970, classified roads into 4 types.[1] In the second Nepal Road Standard introduced in 2013, the types of the roads were the same.[2]
Nepal Road Standard (1970)
Nepal Road Standard (2013)
National Highway
National Highway
Feeder Road
Feeder Road
District/Panchayat Road
District Road
City Road/Street
Urban Road
SSRN 2004 published by the Department of roads in 2004 shows 12 National Highways and 51 Feeder roads in Nepal.[3] The SSRN 2017/18 shows that the number of national highways in the country has increased to 18 but the number of feeder roads has decreased. 3 more Highways added to National Highway later and more feeder road decreased.
There were only 21 National Highways in Nepal before 2021. In 2021, 59 more National highways were announced by the government and corrected the highway numbers.[4]
Nepal Road Standard after 2021
In 2021 SNH 2020/21 released by government shows all the previous feeder roads either converted to new National Highways or ceasing to be classified as feeder roads and handed over to provincial governments.
Nepal National highways map 2020-21
In Nepal, the administration of roads is managed by different levels of government. National Highways are overseen by the Department of Roads under the MPIT. Province Highways and Roads are administered by the Provincial Government. Lastly, Urban, Rural, and Agricultural Roads are managed by the Local Government, working in collaboration with the DoLI. Each level of government plays a key role in the maintenance and development of the road network in their respective jurisdictions.[5]
The Economic Survey 2022–23 released by the Ministry of Finance shows that until mid-March 2023, the country's network of national roads had a total length of 34,100km. This included national highways and other Strategic roads[6]
According to the Statistics of National Highway SNH-2020/21 there are 80 National Highways in Nepal, with a total length of 11178.92km.[7]620.17km (385.36mi) more was added to the National Highway System in 2022/23, making a total length of the national highway of 11,799.09km (7,331.61mi)[8]
There are seven provinces in Nepal which have many provincial highways and provincial roads which are marked[clarification needed] by the province's government. Provincial highways or roads are marked as below:
Election Constituency Strategic Road is a strategic road that connects each Constitutional area with a National Highway passing nearby. There are 165 Election Constituency Strategic Road in Nepal.
Urban/rural roads
Urban/Rural roads are the roads that are administered by local government e.g. Municipality and Rural Municipality. The road codes of the Local roads are coded as follows:
Urban/Rural road of a Municipality in Bagmati Province = BUR00
Urban/Rural road of a Municipality in Koshi Province = KUR00
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