page_title: National highways of India
section_title: Characteristics
hierarchical_section_title: National highways of India / Characteristics
caption_attribution_description: English: Flyover heading towards Delhi Airport
context_page_description: The National highways in India are a network of trunk roads that is owned by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. It is constructed and managed by the National Highway Authority of India, the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation, and the public works departments of state governments.
  The National Highways Authority of India is the nodal agency 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 is a major effort to expand and upgrade the network of highways. NHAI often uses a public–private partnership model for highway development, maintenance, and toll-collection.
  In India, National Highways are at-grade roads, whereas Expressways are controlled-access highways where entrance and exit is controlled by the use of ramps that are incorporated into the design of the expressway.
context_section_description: India has 142,126 km (88,313 mi) of National Highways as of April 2019.
  National Highways constituted 2.7% of India's total road network, but carried about 40% of road traffic, as of 2013. In 2016, the government vowed to double the highway length from 96,000 to 200,000 km.
  The majority of existing highways are two-lane roads (one lane in each direction), though much of this is being expanded to four 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.
caption: A dual carriageway section of NH 48 connecting Delhi to Gurgaon
exif: {"Image Make": "EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY", "Image Model": "KODAK EASYSHARE V1273 DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "picnik.com", "Image DateTime": "2009:04:30 20:11:41", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "242", "Image XPComment": "[0, 0]", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/400", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "160", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:04:29 14:20:06", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:04:29 14:20:06", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "13024/1503", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "1", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "123/10", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "41", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1024", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "768", "EXIF ExposureIndex": "160", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Custom", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "57", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "High gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}