Roads in India are an important mode oftransport in India.India has a network of over 6,617,100 km ofroads. As of December 2024, India hasthe largest road network in the world.[2] At (1.94 km, 1.21 mi) of roads per square kilometre of land, the quantitative density of India's road network is equal to that ofHong Kong, and substantially higher than the United States (0.71 km, 0.44 mi), China (0.54 km, 0.34 mi), Brazil (0.23 km, 0.14 mi) and Russia (0.09 km, 0.056 mi).[3] Adjusted for its large population, India has approximately 5.13 kilometres (3.19 mi) of roads per 1,000 people, which is much lower than United States 20.5 kilometres (12.7 mi) but higher than that of China 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi). India's road network carries over 71% of itsfreight and about 85% ofpassenger traffic.[4]
Since the 1990s, major efforts have been underway to modernize the country's road infrastructure.[5] As of 31 March 2020, 70.00% of Indian roads were paved. As of 31 December 2023, India had completed and placed into use over 35,000 kilometres (22,000 mi) of four or more lane highways connecting many of its major manufacturing, commercial and cultural centres.[3] According to theMinistry of Road Transport and Highways, as of March 2021, India had about 151,019 kilometres (93,839 mi) ofnational highways andexpressways, plus another 186,528 kilometres (115,903 mi) ofstate highways. Major projects are being implemented under theBharatmala, aGovernment of India initiative. Private builders and highway operators are also implementing major projects.[6][7]
The Indian road network is administered by various government authorities, given India's federal form of government. The following table shows the total length of India's road network by type of road and administering authority as of 31 March 2020.[update][3]
| Category | Managing Authority | Length (km) | Length percentages |
|---|---|---|---|
| National highways | Ministry of Road Transport and Highways | 151,000[3] | 2.19% |
| State highways | Public works department of state/union territory | 186,528 | 3.00% |
| District Roads | Public works department of state/union territory | 632,154 | 10.17% |
| Rural roads | Panchayats andPMGSY | 4,535,511 | 72.97% |
| Urban roads | Municipal corporations and municipalities | 544,683 | 8.76% |
| Project roads | Various government departments of states/union territories, andSAIL,NMDC andBRO | 354,921 | 5.70% |
| Total | Total roadways | 6,404,797 km | 100% |
The first evidence of road development in theIndian subcontinent can be traced back to approximately around 2800 BC in the ancient cities ofHarrapa andMohenjodaro of theIndus Valley civilization. Rulingemperors and monarchs ofancient andmedieval India continued to construct roads to connect the cities. The existingGrand Trunk Road was re-built by theMauryan Empire, and further rebuilt by subsequent entities such as theSur Empire, theMughal Empire and theBritish Empire.[8]
In the 1830s, theBritish East India Company started a programme ofmetalled road construction (a.k.a. gravel road), for both commercial and administrative purposes. The Grand Trunk Road – from Calcutta, through Delhi to Peshawar – was rebuilt at a cost of £1,000 per mile; roads fromBombay toPune, Bombay toAgra and Bombay toMadras were constructed; and a Public Works Department and theIndian Institute of Technology Roorkee were founded, to train and employ local surveyors, engineers and overseers, to perform the work, and to maintain the roads. This programme resulted in an estimated 2,500 kilometres (1,600 mi) of metalled roads being constructed by the 1850s.[9][10]
In December 1934, theIndian Roads Congress (IRC) was formed, on the recommendations of the Indian Road Development Committee (Jayakar Committee) of theGovernment of India. In 1943, they proposed a twenty-year plan to increase the road network from 350,000 kilometres (220,000 mi) to 532,700 kilometres (331,000 mi) by 1963, to achieve a road density of 16 km per 100 km2 of land. The construction was to be paid in part through the duty imposed, since 1939, on petrol sales. This became known as the Nagpur Plan. The construction target was achieved in the late 1950s.[11] In 1956, a Highways Act was passed, and a second twenty-year plan proposed for the period 1961–1981, with the ambition of doubling road density to 32 km per 100 km2. This second plan became known as the Bombay Road Plan.[11]
In 1988, an autonomous entity called theNational Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was established by an Act of Parliament and came into existence on 15 June 1989. The Act empowered NHAI to develop, maintain and manage India's road network through National Highways. However, little happened until India introduced widespreadeconomic liberalization in the early 1990s. Since 1995, NHAI has increasingly privatized road network development in India.[12]
In 1998,National Highways Development Project (NHDP) was started by the then Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee. The flagship project of the NHDP is theGolden Quadrilateral, a total of 5,846 kilometres (3,633 mi) of four-to-six-lane highways connecting the four major cities ofDelhi,Mumbai,Chennai andKolkata. The total cost of the project is₹300 billion (US$3.5 billion), funded largely by the government's special petroleum product tax revenues and government borrowing. In January 2012, India announced that the four-lane GQ highway network was complete.[13][14]
Another important road project of the NHDP is the 7,142-kilometre (4,438 mi) four-to-six-laneNorth–South and East–West Corridor, comprising national highways connecting four extreme points of the country. The project aims to connectSrinagar in the north toKanyakumari in the south (including a spur fromSalem to Kanyakumari, viaCoimbatore andKochi), andSilchar in the east toPorbandar in the west. As of 31 October 2016, 90.99% of the project had been completed, 5.47% of the project work is under implementation and 3.52% of the total length is remaining.[15]
As of May 2017, under NHDP, about 28,915 kilometres (17,967 mi) of four-to-six-lane highways have been constructed (including the GQ and N–S/E–W Corridor), while a total of 48,793 kilometres (30,319 mi) of road has been planned to have four-to-six lanes under the NHDP.[16]
TheNational Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) is a Public Sector Enterprise(PSE) created by theMinistry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Government of India in the year 2014 to build highways in technical challenging and high altitude regions of theNortheast India,Uttarakhand,Jammu and Kashmir,Ladakh and theAndaman & Nicobar Islands. It has the task to implement the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North Eastern Region (SARDP-NE) in National Highways portion. The SARDP-NE is under implementation in Phases.
Bharatmala is a centrally-sponsored and funded road and highways project of the Government of India,[18] started in 2017, with a target of constructing 83,677 km (51,994 mi)[19] of new highways at an estimated cost of₹5.35 trillion (US$63 billion). Bharatmala Phase I plans to construct 34,800 kilometres (21,600 mi) of highways (including the remaining projects that were under NHDP) by 2021–22, at an estimated cost of₹535,000 crore (US$63 billion).[20] In 2021, Asia's longest high speed track, National Automotive Test Track was inaugurated inIndore, which would be used to measure the maximum speed capabilities of high-end cars and other categories of vehicles.[21]
India's rate of road building has accelerated since 2010s. It averaged about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) per day in2014–15 and 30 kilometres (19 mi) per day in 2018–19.[22] The country's target is to build 40 kilometres (25 mi) of highways per day.[23]
On July 21, 2021, theMinister of Road Transport and HighwaysNitin Gadkari said that India has created a world record of constructing 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) of four-lane concrete road in 24 hours and 26 kilometres (16 mi) of single lane bitumen road in just 21 hours as per the highest IRC norms and specifications of the MoRTH to ensure quality control. Also, an average of 36.5 kilometres (22.7 mi) of highways have been constructed every day during 2020–21.[24] As of 2021, 64.5% of all goods in India are moved through the country's road network, 90% of India's total passenger traffic uses the road network to commute and the road network contributes 4.8% to the country's gross domestic product.[25]
In 2023, India's road network became theworld's second largest, after the United States.[26] From 2013 to 2014 to 2022 to 2023, the country's road network grew by approximately 59%.[26] In August 2023, theBorder Roads Organisation, astatutory body under theMinistry of Defence, began construction on the Likaru-Mig La-Fukche road inLadakh, which on its completion will be the world's highest motorable road.[27][28]
| Road Category | 1950-51 | 1960-61 | 1970-71 | 1980-81 | 1990-91 | 2000-01 | 2010-11 | 2015-16 | 2020-21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Highways | 19,811 (4.95%) | 23,798 (4.54%) | 23,838 (2.61%) | 31,671 (2.13%) | 33,650 (1.45%) | 57,737 (1.71%) | 70,934 (1.52%) | 101,011 (1.80%) | 151,000 (2.51%) |
| State highways | ^ | ^ | 56,765 (6.20%) | 94,359 (6.35%) | 127,311 (5.47%) | 132,100 (3.92%) | 163,898 (3.50%) | 176,166 (3.14%) | 186,528 (3.00%) |
| District roads | 173,723 (43.44%) | 257,125 (49.02%) | 276,833 (30.26%) | 421,895 (28.40%) | 509,435 (21.89%) | 736,001 (21.82%) | 998,895 (21.36%) | 561,940 (10.03%) | 632,154 (10.17%) |
| Rural roads | 206,408 (51.61%) | 197,194 (37.60%) | 354,530 (38.75%) | 628,865 (42.34%) | 1,260,430 (54.16%) | 1,972,016 (58.46%) | 2,749,804 (58.80%) | 3,935,337 (70.23%) | 4,535,511 (72.97%) |
| Urban roads | 0 | 46,361 (8.84%) | 72,120 (7.88%) | 123,120 (8.29%) | 186,799 (8.03%) | 252,001 (7.47%) | 411,679 (8.80%) | 509,730 (9.10%) | 544,683 (8.76%) |
| Project roads | 0 | 0 | 130,893 (14.31%) | 185,511 (12.49%) | 209,737 (9.01%) | 223,665 (6.63%) | 281,628 (6.02%) | 319,109 (5.70%) | 354,921 (5.71%) |
| Total | 399,942 | 524,478 | 914,979 | 1,485,421 | 2,327,362 | 3,373,520 | 4,676,838 | 5,603,293 | 6,215,797 |
| Figures in parentheses indicate the percentage of total road length for that fiscal year. | |||||||||
As perNHAI andIndian Roads Congress, expressways areaccess controlledhighways with adivided carriageway, designed for high speed vehicular movement and heavy traffic.[29] Most of the existing expressways in India aretoll roads.[30] Expressways make up approximately 5,579 km (3,467 mi) of India's road network, as of 2024.[31][30]
National Expressways Authority of India (NEAI) operating under theMinistry of Road Transport and Highways will be in-charge of the construction and maintenance of expressways.[32] TheNHAI byGovernment of India aims to expand the expressway network and plans to add an additional 18,637 km (11,580 mi) of expressways by 2024 apart from existing national highways.[33]
India's first 8-lane wide access-controlled expressway, theDelhi Noida Direct Flyway (DND Flyway), operational in January 2001, is an expressway connectingDelhi andNoida in the states of Delhi andUttar Pradesh. TheMumbai Pune Expressway, connectingMumbai andPune inMaharashtra fully operational in 2002, is India's first 6-lane wide access-controlledtolled expressway.[34][35] TheYamuna Expressway is a 165 km (103 mi) six-lane controlled-access expressway opened on 9 August 2012.[36] On 21 November 2016, the 302 km (188 mi) six-laneAgra Lucknow Expressway was opened.[37][38] Under construction as of 2019, theMumbai–Nagpur Expressway is expected to become the largest expressway in the country. Several expressway projects, such as theDelhi–Mumbai Expressway,Amritsar–Jamnagar Expressway,Surat–Chennai Expressway,Delhi-Jaipur Expressway,Ganga ExpresswayLucknow-Kanpur Expressway are planned/under-construction.
The Trans Harbour bridge is the longest bridge in India and it will be opened on 12 January 2024, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the bridge. It connects Bombay with Navi Mumbai.[39][40]
National highways are highways connecting major cities throughout the country with premium quality and areat-grade roads. National Highways are designated with NH, followed by the highway number. Indian national highways are further classified based on the width of the carriageway of the highway. India has around 150,000 km (93,000 mi) of National Highways as of April 2021 and is expected to reach 200,000 km By 2024 consisting of Top Notch Highways And Expressways.[41] National Highways constituted 2.7% of India's total road network, but carried about 40% of road traffic, as of 2013.[42] In 2016, the government vowed to double the highway length from 96,000 to 2,00,000 km.[43]
TheNational Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and theNational Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) are the authorities responsible for the development, maintenance and management of the National Highways in India. The NHAI has been undertaking developmental activities under theNational Highways Development Project (NHDP) in five phases. From 2018, the pending projects under NHDP are expected to be subsumed underBharatmala. The NHAI is also responsible for implementing other projects on National Highways, primarily roadconnectivity to major ports in India.
TheGolden Quadrilateral andNorth–South and East–West Corridor were major ongoing highway development projects in India.
| Lanes | Length (km) | Length share |
|---|---|---|
| Single-lane (3.75 m / 12.3 ft) or Intermediate lane (5.5 m / 18 ft ) | 29,693 | 20.49% |
| Double-lane (7 m / 23 ft without paved kerb) and (7.5 m / 24.6 ft with paved kerb ) | 72,281 | 55.05% |
| Four-lane / Six-lane / Eight-lane | 37,058 | 24.46% |
| Total | 1,39,032 | 100% |
State highways are highways connecting major cities throughout a state and are alsoat-grade roads. They also connect with National Highways or state highways of neighboring states. State Highways are designated with SH, followed by the highway number and preceded by state code. As of 31 March 2020, the total length of state highways was 186,528 kilometres (115,903 mi).[3] As of 31 March 2020,Maharashtra has the largest share of state highways among all states (22.14%), followed byKarnataka (11.11%),Gujarat (9.76%),Rajasthan (8.62%) andTamil Nadu (6.67%).[3]
State governments have the authority and responsibility to build state highways. Most of the state highways are developed by state public works departments. Independently of theBharatmala program, state governments have been implementing a number of state highway projects since 2000. By 2010, state highway projects worth US$1.7 billion had been completed, and projects worth an additional US$11.4 billion were under implementation.[44]
District Roads in India are approximately 632,154 kilometres (392,802 mi), of which 14.80% of the total length was surfaced.[3]Zila Parishads also have the authority and responsibility to build district roads.
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Rural roads form a substantial portion of the country's road network, forming 72.97% of the total of roads, as of March 2020. As of the same date, the percentage of unsurfaced roads to the total road length was 31%.[3]
For the development of these rural roads,Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (Prime Minister's Rural Roads Scheme) was launched in December 2000 by the Indian government to provide connectivity to isolated rural habitations. The scheme envisions that these roads will be constructed and maintained by the village panchayats. In some parts of India, the government has attempted to manage the programme directly as a local social spending program.[45]
In other parts of India, thePradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and a sister program namedBharat Nirman (Build India) have privatized the rural road construction projects and deployed contractors. The effort has aimed to build all-season single-lane asphalted roads to connect India's rural and remote areas. A significant portion of funding for these projects has come from theWorld Bank and theAsian Development Bank.[46]
| Length 2001 | Length 2011 | Length 2021 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total rural roads | 2.7 million | 3.1 million | 4.5 million | |
| Paved unmaintained rural roads | 0.5 million | |||
| Unpaved rural roads | 2.2 million | 1.9 million | ||
| Paved maintained rural roads | 728,871 | |||
| New rural roads | 322,900 | 82,743 | 1,500,000 |
Border Roads are the roads constructed along thenorthern and northeastern borders of the country. These roads are constructed and maintained by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) which was set up in 1960 by the government of India. BRO is regarded as a symbol of nation building, national integration and an inseparable component in maintaining the security of the country.
| Sl. No. | Stakeholder | Type | Responsibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) | Central Government Ministry | Policy making, funding, planning, and oversight ofNational Highways |
| 2 | National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) | Statutory Authority | Development, maintenance, and management ofNational Highways |
| 3 | State Public Works Departments (PWDs) | State Government Departments | Construction and maintenance of State Highways, Major District Roads, and rural roads |
| 4 | Border Roads Organisation (BRO) | Defence/Engineering Organisation | Construction and maintenance of roads in border areas and strategic locations |
| 5 | National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) | Government-owned Company | Development of highways in difficult and remote regions (e.g.,Northeast, hilly areas) |
| 6 | Rural Development Departments (underPradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana - PMGSY) | Central/State Joint Initiative | Rural road connectivity and maintenance |
| 7 | Urban Local Bodies (Municipal Corporations,Municipalities) | Local Government | Construction and maintenance of urban roads and streets |
| 8 | Private Sector (under PPP, BOT, HAM models) | Private Companies | Construction, operation, and maintenance of roads and expressways through public-private partnerships |
| 10 | Zilla Panchayats andGram Panchayats | Local Rural Bodies | Maintenance of village and internal rural roads |
India's intra-city vehicle speed is among the lowest in the world. As per a study byOla Cabs, in 2017, the average traffic speed inDelhi was 25 km/h (16 mph).[48] Amongst other major cities, the average traffic speed inChennai was 18.9 km/h (11.7 mph), inMumbai was 20.7 km/h (12.9 mph), inKolkata was 19.2 km/h (11.9 mph), inHyderabad was 18.5 km/h (11.5 mph), and inBengaluru was 17.2 km/h (10.7 mph).[48]
TheWorld Health Organization's compilation of road network safety data for major economies found India to have the highest number of road fatalities in the world, with 299,091 deaths caused by road accidents in 2016. Also, fatalities per 100,000 population stay among the highest, at 22.6.[49] Of total fatalities, 40% were of riders of 2 or 3 wheelers, 18% were of drivers and passengers of 4-wheeled cars and light vehicles, 18% were of drivers and passengers of buses and heavy trucks, 10% of pedestrians, 2% of cyclists and 13% of other.[49]
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