India has the second-largest road network in the world. The Nagpur Plan divides roads into 4 main categories: National Highways, State Highways, District Roads and Village Roads. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is the nodal agency responsible for building, upgrading and maintaining the national highways in India. NHAI operates under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. India has 142,126 km (88,313 mi) of National Highways as of April 2019. The National Highways along with the Expressways constitute only about 1.7% of the length of all roads, they carry about 40% of the road traffic. Let’s discuss on the list of National Highways in India, and their importance.
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List of National Highways in India
The numbering system for National Highways (NH) in India follows the below-given rules:
- According to the new system, all east-west highways have odd numbers.
- All north-south highways have even numbers.
- On odd-numbered highways, the number increases from north to south, and from east to west.
- Suffixes A, B, C, D are added to the three-digit sub highways to indicate very small spin-offs or stretches of sub-highways.
- The Highways 144, 244, 344 etc will be the branches of the main National Highway 44.
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National Highways and Connection Points
| National Highway | Route | Distance |
| NH 1 | Delhi- Ambala- Jalandhar- Amritsar- Indo-Pak Border | 422 Km |
| NH 1A (301) | Jalandhar- Madhopur- Jammu- Banihal- Srinagar- Baramula- Uri | 234 KM |
| NH 1B (701) | Batote- Doda- Kishtwar- Sinthan pass – Khanabal | 126 KM |
| NH 1C | Domel to Katra | – |
| NH 1D | Srinagar – Kargil- Leh | – |
| NH 2 | Delhi- Mathura – Agra- Kanpur- Allahabad-Varanasi- Mohania- Barhi Palsit- Baidyabati- Bara- Calcutta | 1324 KM |
| NH 2A | Sikandra- Bhognipur | – |
| NH 2B | Burdwan – Bolpur road (via Talit, Guskara, and Bhedia) | – |
| NH 3 | Agra- Gwalior- Shivpuri- Indore- Dhule- Nasik- Thane- Mumbai | 534 |
| NH 4 | Junction with National Highways: 3 near Thane- Pune – Belgaum- Hubli- Bangalore- Ranipet- Chennai | – |
| NH 4A | Belgaum- Anmod- Ponda- Panaji | – |
| NH 4B | Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust -Palaspe | – |
| NH 5 | Junction with National Highways No. 6 near Baharagora- Cuttack Bhubaneshwar- Visakhapatnam – Vijayawada- Chennai | – |
| NH 5A | Junction with National Highway No. 5 near Haridaspur- Paradip Port | – |
| NH 6 | Hajira- Dhule- Nagpur- Raipur- Sambalpur-Baharagora- Calcutta | – |
| NH 7 | Varanasi- Mangawan- Rewa- Jabalpur-Lakhnadon- Nagpur- Hyderabad- Kurnool-Bangalore- Krishnagiri- Salem- Dindigul-Madurai- Cape- Kanyakumari | – |
| NH 7A | Palayamkottai- Tuticorin Port | – |
| NH 8 | Delhi- Jaipur- Ajmer- Udaipur- Ahmedabad- Vadodara- Mumbai | – |
| NH 8 A | Ahmedabad- Limbdi- Morvi- Kandla- Mandvi- Vikhari- Kothra- Naliya Narayan Sarovar | – |
| NH 8 B | Bamanbore- Rajkot- Porbandar | – |
| NH 8 C | Chiloda- Sarkhej | – |
| NH 8 D | Chiloda- Gandhinagar- Sarkhej | – |
| NH 8E | Somnath to Bhavnagar | – |
| NH 9 | Pune- Sholapur- Hyderabad- Vijayawada- Machilipatnam | – |
| NH 10 | Delhi- Fazilka- Indo Pak Border | – |
| NH 11 | Agra- Jaipur- Bikaner | – |
| NH 11 A | Manoharpur- Dausa- Lalsot- Kothum | – |
| NH 12 | Jabalpur- Bhopal- Khilchipur- Aklera- Jhalawar-Kota- Bundi- Deoli Tonk- Jaipur | – |
| NH 18 | Junction with NH 7 near Kurnool and Nandyal to Cuddapah and Junction with NH 4 near Chittoor | – |
| NH 19 | Ghazipur- Balia- Patna | – |
| NH 20 | Pathankot – Mandi | – |
| NH 21 | Junction with National Highway No. 22 near Chandigarh- Ropar- Bilaspur- Mandi- Kullu- Manali | – |
| NH 22 | Ambala to Indo China Border near Shipkila | – |
| NH 23 | Chas- Ranchi- Rourkela- Talcher- Junction with National Highway No. 42 | – |
| NH 24 | Delhi- Bareilly- Lucknow | – |
| NH 27 | Allahabad to Mangawan | – |
| NH 29 | Gorakhpur to Varanasi | – |
| NH 30 | Junction with NH 2 near Mohania and Patna to Bakhtiyarpur | – |
| NH 35 | Barasat to Petrapole on India and Bangladesh border | – |
| NH 39 | Numaligarh to Palel and Indo Burma Border | – |
| NH 47 (NH 544) | Salem to Kanyakumari | 342 Km |
| NH 966 B (47A) | Junction with NH 47 at Kundanoor to Willington Island in Kochi | 8 Km |
| NH 47 C | Junction with NH 47 at Kalamassery to Vallarpadam ICTT in Kochi | – |
| NH 55 | Siliguri to Darjeeling | – |
| NH 56 | Lucknow to Varanasi | – |
| NH 58 | Delhi to Mana Pass | – |
| NH 79 | Ajmer-Nasirabad-MP border | – |
| NH 151 | Karimganj – Bangladesh Border | – |
| NH 152 | Patacharkuchi-Bhutan border | – |
| NH 153 | Ledo – Lekhapani – Indo / Myanmar – Border | – |
| NH 233 | The highway starting from India/ Nepal border (connecting to Lumbini) via Naugarh, Siddharthnagar, Bansi, Basti, Tanda, Azamgarh and terminating at Varans | – |
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National Highways in India: Key Facts
- The Leh-Manali Highway, connecting Shimla to Leh in Ladakh is the world’s second highest-altitude motor highway.
- The longest National Highway in India is NH-44. It covers the range from Srinagar to Kanyakumari (North-South Corridor) with a length of approximately 3700km.
- There are 228 National Highways in India.
- India has two National Expressways: National Expressway-1: Ahmedabad Vadodara Expressway has been designated as National Expressway-1, also known as Mahatma Gandhi Expressway. It is a 93 kilometres 4 lane expressway built by Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in the early 2000s.National Expressway-2: The Sonipat (Kundli)-Ghaziabad-Palwal expressway is the National Expressway-2. It is still under development.
- There are 13 state expressways in India including Mumbai- Pune, Ambala- Chandigarh, Delhi- Gurgaon, Delhi- Faridabad, Kundli– Manesar– Palwal, Faridabad- Noida- Ghaziabad, Kalyani Expressway, DND Flyway, Bengaluru- Mysore, Chennai HSCTC, Hyderabad Elevated Expressways, Belghoria Expressway and Yamuna Expressway.
- The shortest National Highway was the NH 966 B (5.9 km), which connected Kundanoor Junction of Maradu in Kochi city to the Kochi port at Willingdon Island.
- Golden Quadrilateral: 6 lane highway project connecting Delhi – Mumbai – Kolkata – Chennai
- NHAI is implementing the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North Eastern Region (SARDP-NE) for connecting state capitals in North-Eastern region.
Major waterways in India
| Inland Waterway 1 | Allahabad – Haldia stretch of Ganga – Bhagirathi – Hooghly river system |
| Inland Waterway 2 | Sadiya – Dhubri stretch of the Brahmaputra River (Assam) |
| Inland Waterway 3 | Kottapuram – Kollam stretch of the West Coast Canal, Champakara Canal and Udyogmandal Canal (Kerala) |
| Inland Waterway 4 | Kakinada – Pondicherry along Godavari and Krishna River system |
| Inland Waterway 5 | Talcher – Paradip (Odisha) |
| Inland Waterway 6 | Lakhipur to Bhanga on the River Barak, Assam (Proposed) |
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