National Highways connect major cities of India (ports, cities, capitals of states) thereby becoming the backbone of the Indian road network. They are usually made broad by 2 or 4 lanes of concrete cement. Let us learn more about Important National Highways of India.
National Highways of India
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), set up in 1988 under the Act Parliament, is responsible for the development, maintenance, and management of highways in India.
NH – 44, which runs through the states of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu is the longest National Highway in India.
It stretches for approximately 3745 km. NH 44 was previously known as NH 7.
The National Highways of India have a systematic numbering scheme that is based on the geographic orientation and location of the highway. This method was adopted to ensure the flexibility and consistency of the highways.
- For all National Highways which run from North to South, even numbers are assigned from east West in ascending order. Example is NH- 2 is located in the North-Eastern states.
- For all National Highways which run from East to West odd numbers are assigned and are named in ascending order from East to West. For example – 87 is located in Tamil Nadu.
- Highways which are denoted by 3 numbers are the branches of the National Highway. For example – NH 144,244 is the subsidiary routes of the national highway 44.
List of National Highways of India
| National Highway | Length (in kilometers) | Route |
| NH 44 (old NH 7) | 3,745 | Srinagar to Kanyakumari |
| NH 27 | 3,507 | Porbandar in Gujarat to Silchar in Assam |
| NH 48 (old NH 8) | 2,807 | Delhi to Chennai |
| NH 52 | 2,317 | Sangrur, Punjab to Ankola, Karnataka |
| NH 30 (Old NH 221) | 2,040 | Sitarganj in Uttarakhand to Ibrahimpatnam in Andhra Pradesh. |
| NH 6 | 1,873 | Jorabat in Meghalaya and terminates at Selling in Mizoram |
| NH 53 | 1,781 | Hajira in Gujarat and Pradip port in Odisha. |
| NH 16 (Old NH 5) | 1,711 | East coast of West Bengal to Chennai in Tamil Nadu. |
| NH 66 (Old NH 17) | 1,622 | Panvel and terminates at Kanyakumari |
| NH 19 (Old NH 20) | 1,435 | Delhi to Kolkata |
| NH 34 | 1,426 | Gangotri Dham in Uttarakhand to Lakhnadon in Madhya Pradesh |
The following list is separated in a state-wise manner:
| Name of State | National Highway No. |
| Andhra Pradesh | 4, 5, 7, 9, 16, 18, 43, 63, 202, 205, 214, 214A, 219, 221 & 222 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 52, 52A & 153 |
| Assam | 31, 31B, 31C, 36, 37, 37A, 38, 39, 44, 51, 52, 52A, 52B, 53, 54, 61, 62, 151, 152, 153 & 154 |
| Bihar | 2, 2C, 19, 28, 28A, 28B, 30, 30A, 31, 57, 57A, 77, 80, 81, 82, 83, 83, 84, 85, 98, 99, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107 & 110 |
| Chandigarh | 21 |
| Chhattisgarh | 6, 12A, 16, 43, 78, 200, 202, 216, 217, 111, & 221 |
| Delhi | 1, 2, 8, 10 & 24 |
| Goa | 4A, 17, 17A & 17B |
| Gujarat | NE-I, 6, 8, 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D, 8E, 14, 15, 59, 113 & 228 |
| Haryana | 1, 2, 8, 10, 21A, 22, 64, 65, 71, 71A, 72, 73, 73A , 71B & NE-II1512 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 1A, 20, 21, 21A, 22, 70, 72, 88 & 73A |
| Jammu & Kashmir | 1A, 1B, 1C & 1D |
| Jharkhand | 2, 6, 23, 31, 32, 33, 75, 78, 80, 98, 99 & 100 |
| Karnataka | 4, 4A, 7, 9, 13, 17, 48, 63, 67, 206, 207,209, 212 & 218 |
| Kerala | 17, 47, 47A, 49, 208, 212, 213, & 220 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 3, 7, 12, 12A, 25, 26, 26A, 27, 59, 59A, 69, 75, 76, 78, 86 & 92 |
| Maharashtra | 3, 4, 4B, 4C, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 16, 17, 50, 69, 204, 211 & 222 |
| Manipur | 39, 53, 150 & 155 |
| Meghalaya | 40, 44, 51 & 62 |
| Mizoram | 44A, 54, 54A, 54B, 150 & 154 |
| Nagaland | 36, 39, 61, 150 & 155 |
| Odisha | 5, 5A, 6, 23, 42, 43, 60, 75, 200, 201, 203, 203A, 215, 217 & 2243704 |
| Puducherry | 45A & 66 |
| Punjab | 1, 1A, 10, 15, 20, 21, 22, 64, 70, 71, 72 & 95 |
| Rajasthan | 3, 8, 11, 11A, 11B, 12, 14, 15, 65, 71B, 76, 79, 79A, 89, 5585, 90, 113, 112, 114 & 116 |
| Sikkim | 31A |
| Tamilnadu | 4, 5, 7, 7A, 45, 45A, 45B, 45C, 46, 47, 47B, 49, 66, 67, 68, 205, 207, 208, 209, 210, 219, 220, 226 & 227 |
| Tripura | 44 & 44A 400 |
| Uttaranchal | 58, 72, 72A, 73, 74, 87, 94, 108, 109, 123, 119, 121, 87 Ext. & 125 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 2, 2A, 3, 7, 11, 12A, 19, 24, 24A, 24B, 25, 25A, 26, 27, 28, 28B, 28C, 29, 56, 56A, 56B, 58, 72A, 73, 74, 75, 76, 86, 87, 91, 91A, 92, 93 ,96, 97 , 119 & NE-II |
| West Bengal | 2, 2B, 6, 31, 31A, 31C, 32, 34, 35, 41, 55, 60, 60A, 80, 81 & 117 |
| Andaman & Nicobar | 223 |
Conclusion
The National Highways of India only constitute 1.8% of the roads but form 40% of the road traffic. With India having the second largest road network in the world, it has over 200 highways and up to over 1 lakh kilometers.