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This article is about Indian National Highways System. And provides information about projects under it.

The Network of National Highways in India

Map showing highway distribution with population density

In India, the National Highways are the main long-distance roadways. They are maintained by the Central Government, and the majority are two-lane (one in each direction). They span about 67,000 km, of which about 200 km are expressways. Indian highways constitute around 2% of the total road network in India, but carry nearly 40% of the total traffic.^[1] The National Highways Development Project, currently being implemented, seeks to massively expand India's highway network.

The recently passed National Highways Bill, 1995, provides for private investment in the building and maintenance of the highways. In the recent past, a number of new roads have been classified as "NHs" in a move to provide national connectivity even to remote places. Bypasses have recently been constructed for towns and cities to provide uninterrupted passage for highway traffic. The varied climatic, demographic and traffic and sometimes political situation prevents these highways from having a uniform character. These may be six-laned in some parts, to even non-metalled stretches in remote places. Many NH's are still being upgraded or are under construction. There are long NH's to connect the metros together, as well as short shoots off the highway to give connectivity to the nearby ports or harbours. The longest National Highway is the NH7,^[2] which goes all the way from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to Kanyakumari at the southernmost point of the Indian mainland in Tamil Nadu, covering a distance of 2369 km, and passing through the metros like Jabalpur, Nagpur, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The shortest NH is the NH47A,^[3] which is a 6 km stretch to the Ernakulam - Kochi Port.

India has a vast network of National Highways. India's highways connect all the major cities and state capitals. Most highways are 2-laned. In some more developed areas it may broaden to 4 lanes, while closer to big cities, highways can even be of 8 lanes. India has the distinction of having the world's highest motorable highway, connecting Shimla to Leh in Ladakh, Kashmir.

The 95 km long Mumbai-Pune Expressway

All the highways are metalled. In most developed states the roads are devoid of potholes; however, in less developed states and in sparsely populated areas, highways are riddled with potholes. Very few of India's highways are concretised, the most notable being the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

Highways form the economic backbone of the country. Highways have facilitated development along the route, and many towns have sprung up along major highways. Highways are dotted with local restaurants or inns popularly known as Dhabas. They are known to serve delicious local cuisine and also serve as trucker stops.

Under the former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, India launched a massive upgradation of highways called the Golden Quadrilateral Project, where the main north-south and east-west connecting corridors between the 4 metropolitan cities were concretised into 4-lane highways.

The Golden Quadrilateral boasts of some breathtaking spots and some amazing flyovers.

Some of the Busy National Highway sectors in India have been converted to 6- or 4-lane expressways – for example, Delhi-Agra, Delhi-Jaipur, Ahmedabad-Vadodara, Mumbai-Pune, Mumbai-Surat, Bangalore-Mysore, Bangalore-Chennai and Chennai-Tada. There is a bigger plan (National Highways Development Project Phase V) to convert all of the Golden Quadrilateral Highways (6000 km) to 6-lane highways/expressways) by 2012.

• Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway is India's first expressway. The plan was mooted way ago during 70's but the plan somehow got delayed due to land and political issues. The Expressway is operational since 2001. The expressway cuts the journey to less than an hour. India's first 4-Lane and dual carriageway expressway project, including minor bridges and canal crossings, interchanges at Nadiad and Anand, cross drainage works, rest areas and appurtenant works for a length of 92.85 Kms.

Image:Http://my-static.opera.com/album/ujval/181720/This is the Ahmedabad - Baroda expressway.jpg

Mumbai-Pune Expressway

• Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway - This expressway which is set to open completely on Dec 31' 2007 is part of Golden Quadrilateral highway project of Central Government. After completion this expressway will boast of many firsts to its credit in India and is expected to reduce travel time between Gurgaon and Delhi to 20 minutes from the existing 60 minutes. Some special features of highway will be SOS telephones per 1.5 kms, CCTV surviliance, 32 lane toll plaza at Delhi-Haryana border. the highway will be categorized into three parts namely - VIP zone up till IGI Airport, Urban section till Gurgaon and Trucker's Paradise after Gurgaon.^[4]

• Ganga Expressway - This project was announced in 2007 by U.P. Chief Minister Mayawati. At 1000 kms, it will be India's longest expressway. It will link Noida in western UP's Delhi border to Ballia in UP's eastern border with Bihar state. The expressway wil run along the left bank of the Ganga river, in contrast to the Grand Trunk Road which is on the right bank. The expected cost is Rs 40,000 crore ($10 billion). The journey from Delhi to Varanasi will be reduced to 8 hours. The project is expected to complete in 2011.^[5]

• Mumbai-Pune Expressway connects the commercial capital of India - Mumbai - to the neighboring IT-intensive city of Pune. Concretized and smooth, this highway is unlike most other roads in India where traffic is chaotic and aggressive driving is the norm. This high-speed motorway largely follows established traffic patterns and offers a scenic drive to Pune while cutting down on the travel time between these two commercially important cities in Western India.

"Highway features"

• Six-lane concrete highway divided in center by a 7m-wide divider. An extra lane provided on each side as a hard shoulder.
• The Mumbai-Pune expressway should cut travel time between Mumbai and Pune to less than 2 hours.
• Separate tunnels for traffic in each direction.
• Complete fencing to avoid humans/animals crossing the expressway.
• No two-wheelers, three-wheelers or tractor vehicles allowed.
• Provision of petrol pumps, motels, workshops, toilets, emergency phones, first aid and breakdown vans, etc.
• Proposed planting of 80,000 trees along Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

Expressway in Mumbai

Image:Http://my-static.opera.com/album/ujval/181720/The Mumbai Pune expressway.jpg

• Shimla-Chandigarh Expressway - The four laning work of Shimla-Chandigarh National Highway 22 (NH22) will eventually result into formation of Shimla-Chandigarh Expressway.^[6]

Evolution of Indian road network - The main map shows the routes since the Mughal times, Inset A shows the major cultural currents of the prehistorical 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 had established brick-laden roads in their cities. The most famous highway of medieval India was the Grand Trunk Road. The Grand Trunk Road begins in Sonargaon^[8]near Dhaka, Bangladesh and ends in Peshawar, Pakistan. It travels through important Indian cities en route such as Kolkata, Patna, Varanasi, Kanpur, Agra, Delhi, Panipat, Pipli, Ambala, Rajpura, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar. In the 19th century, the British upgraded the highway network along with building roads in treacherous terrains such as the Western Ghats.

• National Highways Development Project
• List of National Highways in India
• List of National Highways in India (by Highway Number)
• Border Roads Organisation
• National Highways Authority of India
• NH-17

1. ^ Contemporary India - II, NCERT Social Science textbook, 2005 Edition,
   Road Network Assessment by National Highway Authority of India
2. ^ Maps of India
3. ^ List Kerala,
   India9.com
4. ^ Times of India article - dated Jun 25' 2005,
   Delhi Newsline article - dated June 28' 2007,
   Road Traffic Technology article
5. ^ Hidustan Times article - dated September 05' 2007
6. ^ The Tribune article - dated July 19' 2005
7. ^ Road Network report by National Highway Authority of India
8. ^ Article on Archnet

• National Highway Authority of India
• NH in Kerala
• Highway Photographs
• Article about Indian Highways
• A photo gallery.