In India, the National Highways are the primary long-distance roadways. Most are maintained by the Government of India, others are operated under a public-private partnership by the private sector. Most are two-lane (one in each direction). They span about 67,000 km (42,000 mi), of which about 200 km (120 mi) are designated expressways and 10,000 km (6,200 mi) have four lanes or more. National highways constitute approximately 2% of the total road network of India, but carry nearly 40% of the total traffic. The National Highways Development Project, currently being implemented, seeks to massively expand India's highway network.
Historical national highways
Evolution of the Indian road network — The main map shows routes that have existed since Mughal times, Inset A shows the major cultural currents of the prehistoric period, B shows pre-Mauryan Indian routes, C shows the Mauryan network, D shows the trade routes at the beginning of the Christian era, and E shows the Indian "Z".
In ancient times the ruling monarchs constructed many brick roads in cities. The most famous highway of medieval India was the Grand Trunk Road. The Grand Trunk Road begins in Sonargaon near Dhaka, Bangladesh and ends in Peshawar, Pakistan. It travels through or near many important cities of the subcontinent, including Dhaka in Bangladesh, Kolkata, Patna, Varanasi, Kanpur, Agra, Delhi, Panipat, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, and Amritsar in India, and Lahore and Peshawar in Pakistan. In the 19th century, the British upgraded the existing highway network, and built roads in treacherous areas such as the Western Ghats.
Current system
National Highways in India
India has 67,000 km (42,000 mi) of highways connecting all the major cities and state capitals. Most are two-lane highways with paved roads. In developed areas they may broaden to four lanes, while near large cities, they may expand to eight lanes. In most developed states, the roads are free of potholes. In less-developed states and sparsely populated areas, inadequate maintenance and the harsh monsoon results in potholed roads. Very few of India's highways are built from concrete. As of 2010, 19,064 km (11,846 mi) of the National Highway system still consists of single-laned roads. The government is currently working to ensure that by December 2014 the entire National Highway network consists of roads with two or more lanes.
India has the distinction of having the world's second highest-altitude motor highway Leh-Manali Highway, connecting Shimla to Leh in Ladakh, Kashmir.
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Highways form the economic backbone of the country. Highways have often facilitated development along their routes, and many new towns have sprung up along major highways. Highways also have large numbers of small restaurants and inns (known as dhabas) along their length. They serve popular local cuisine and serve as truck stops.
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India has adopted a new systematic numbering of National Highways vide notification No. NO.NH-14019/9/2007-P&M dated 28th April, 2010. The new system will indicate the direction of National Highways whether it is East-West or North-South and also the geographical region where it is located.
Recent developments
Under former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, India launched a massive program of highway upgrades, called the National Highway Development Project (NHDP), in which the main north-south and east-west connecting corridors and highways connecting the four metropolitan cities have been fully paved and widened into 4-lane highways. Some of the busier National Highway sectors in India have been converted to four or six lane expressways – for example, Delhi-Agra, Delhi-Jaipur, Ahmedabad-Vadodara, Mumbai-Pune, Mumbai-Surat, Bangalore-Mysore, Bangalore-Chennai, Chennai-Tada,Delhi-Meerut Hyderabad-Vijayawada and Guntur-Vijayawada. Phase V of the National Highway Development Project is to convert all 6,000 km (3,700 mi) of the Golden Quadrilateral Highways to 6-lane highways/expressways by 2012.
The National Highways Bill, passed in 1995, provides for private investment in the building and maintenance of the highways. Recently, a number of new roads have been classified as "National Highways" in a move to provide national connectivity to remote places. Bypasses have also recently been constructed around larger towns and cities to provide uninterrupted passage for highway traffic. The varied climactic, demographic, traffic, and sometimes political situation, prevents these highways from having a uniform character. They range from fully-paved, six-lane roads in some areas, to unpaved stretches in remote places. Many National Highway's are still being upgraded or are under construction. There are long National Highway's to connect the metros together, as well as short spurs off the highway to provide connectivity to nearby ports or harbors. The longest National Highway is the NH7, which runs between Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, at the southernmost point of the Indian mainland, covering a distance of 2,369 km (1,472 mi), and passes through Hyderabad and Bangalore. The shortest National Highway is the NH47A, which spans 6 km (3.7 mi), to the Ernakulam - Kochi Port.
Indian road network
Indian Road Network
Class Length (km)
Access Controlled Expressways 200 km (120 mi)
4-6 lane Divided Highways (with service rd in crowded areas) 10,000 km (6,200 mi)
National Highways 66,590 km (41,380 mi)
State Highways 131,899 km (81,958 mi)
Major district roads 467,763 km (290,654 mi)
Rural & other roads 2,650,000 km (1,650,000 mi)
Total (approx) 3,300,000 km (2,050,000 mi)
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