National Highway of India

In India, transportation is a crucial aspect of the country’s geography. There are three different modes of transportation available. There are three modes of transportation: road, water, and air. Border Roadways, National Highways, State Highways, District Highways, Village Roads, and so on are the several types of roads in each country.

The length of the  National Highway of India is 1,26,350 km. The National Highways of India are considered the second largest in the world. Roads in India are classified into three categories on the basis of management: National Highways, State Highways, and Border Roads. Here, we have provided a list of important National Highways which can be used for quick revision for GK study for different competitive examinations.

There are 599 National Highways in India, according to the Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highways (MoRTH).  The Ministry has published information about the country’s national highways on its official website. The numbering of National Highways in India has been renewed over time. The government of India has modified the Kashi-Vishwanath Temple. The government has initiated a project named Kashi Vishwanath Corridor where a 3-lane flyover is being constructed on the Varanasi-Ghazipur National Highway.

National Highways cover a total distance of 1,32,500 kilometres. The purpose of this article is to provide a list of key National Highways in India to assist aspirants for the Prelims and Mains of the IAS Exam.

Candidates who are studying National Highways should additionally study GK topics as well as keep the latest update about the Kashi-Vishwanath Corridor for current affairs suggestion.

List of National Highways in India

The following is a list of India’s major highways and the states through which they traverse. It was extracted from a MoRTH official paper. The Indian National Highways details can be downloaded in PDF format.

National Highway of India: Download PDF

The list of National Highways of India is provided below in the form of a PDF. You can click to view the PDF. This will be very helpful as general knowledge for the students who are appearing for various competitive exams.

How are the National Highways of India numbered?

There are some unique ways of numbering the National Highway of India.

• All the North-South highways will have even numbers.
• All the East-West highways will carry ODD numbers.
• All the significant Highways will have single-digit or double-digit numbers.
• All North-South highways will increase their numbers from East to West. For example, the North-South highways in Central India or Western India will have a higher number than the ones in East India.
• The three-digit numbered highways are secondary routes or branches of the main highway. For example, 144, 244, 344 etc., are the branches of the main National Highway 44.
• Suffixes A, B, C, D etc., are added to the three-digit sub highways to indicate very small spin-offs or stretches of sub-highways. For example, 966A, 527B etc.

National Highway of India: Importance

National Highways are essential for the following reasons.

• It provides transportation of goods across the lengths and breadths of India. Presently, the total length of National Highways in India is about 1,26,350 km.
•  They are spread throughout all the states like a network, providing road connectivity across the country.
•  National Highways form only 2.04% of the total length of roadways in India. They help to transport about 40% of the total transport plying through roadways in the country. 
• The National Highways of India help in agricultural development.
• The National Highways of India help in dairy development.
• The National Highways of India help in tourism development.
•  The National Highways of India help in fisheries development.
• The National Highways of India help in maintaining law and order in the country.
• The National Highways of India play an important role in defence activities.
• The pilgrimage Kashi-Vishwanath Corridor will also play an important role in the National Highways because it will connect the two cities namely Varanasi and Gazipur.

National Highway of India: Interesting Facts

The longest National Highway in India:

• NH 44 (previously National Highway 7) is the longest-running major National Highway that starts from Srinagar to Kanyakumari. 

The shortest National Highway in India

• NH 966B ( previously NH 47A) is the shortest National Highway in India, covering a distance of 8 km (5.0 mi) and runs between Kundannoor and Willingdon Island in Kochi, Kerala.

World’s second-highest Motorable Highway

• The Leh-Manali Highway is the world’s second highest-altitude motor highway.

Golden Quadrilateral (GQ)

• GQ is a National Highway network that connects the four major metro cities of India, namely, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai.

Traffic colours used on National Highways

• National Highway– Yellow and White
• State highways – Green and White
• City highways – Black and White