The private players are allowed to collect toll for the usage of

Infrastructure, post which the assets are transferred to the

Government

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Classification of Roads

The roads in India are classified into four categories, on functional basis:

1. National Highways

TheNational highways in India are a network of trunk

roads owned by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

It is constructed and managed by the National Highway

Authority of India(NHAI), the National Highways and
Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited(NHIDCL), and
the public works departments (PWD) of state governments

These roads are meant for inter-state and strategic defense

movements and the connect the state capitals, big cities,
important ports and link up with border roads

These form the lifeline of road transport and constitute the

framework of road system in India

India has 151,019 km (93,839 mi) of National Highways as of

March 2021

Distribution

The historically important Sher Shah Suri Marg is known as National

Highway 1. It links Delhi and Amritsar

National Highway 7 is the longest one, and it links Varanasi with

Kanniyakumari

According to data from ‘Ministry of road transport and Highways’,

Maharashtra has the longest length of National Highway, followed by
Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan
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Major initiatives

The National Highways Development Project(NHDP) started in 1998,

is a project to upgrade, rehabilitate and widen major highways
in India to a higher standard.

The Golden Quadrilateral(GQ) project initiated in 1999, is a national

highway network connecting most of the major industrial, agricultural
and cultural centres of India. It forms a quadrilateral connecting the
four major metro cities of India,
viz., Delhi (north), Kolkata (east), Mumbai (west) and Chennai (south)

The Bharatmala Pariyojana( ‘India garland project’) is a centrally-

sponsored and funded Road and Highways project of the Government
of India
Bharatmala Project will interconnect 550 District Headquarters
(from current 300) through a minimum 4-lane highway by raising the
number of corridors to 50 (from current 6) and move 80% freight
traffic (40% currently) to National Highways by interconnecting 24
logistics parks, 66 inter-corridors (IC) of total 8,000 km (5,000 mi),
116 feeder routes (FR) of total 7,500 km (4,700 mi) and 7 north east
Multi-Modal waterway ports

The umbrella programme will subsume all existing Highway Projects

including the flagship National Highways Development
Project (NHDP)
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2. State Highways
These are constructed and maintained by state governments, and
join the state capitals with district headquarters and other
important towns

These roads constitute about 3.5% of the total road length in India

Although construction and maintenance of state highways is the

responsibility of the concerned state governments, yet with the
revamping of the Central Road Fund(CRF) in 2000, the Centre
provides financial assistance for development of state roads

Further, central government provides 100% grant for inter-state

connectivity and 50% grant for projects of economic importance
from CRF
 Distribution

Maharashtra has the maximum length of state highways, followed by

Karnataka, Gujarat, etc.

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3. District Roadways
These roads join the district headquarters with other places of the
district

Development and maintenance of these roads fall within the

purview of Zila Parishads

Maharashtra is at the top, in this category

 4. Village roads
These are mainly the responsibility of village panchayats and
connect the villages with the neighboring towns and cities

These are generally dusty tracks, and become muddy and

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unserviceable during the rainy season

A new thrust was given to Village roads when the Pradhan Mantri
Gram Sadak Yojana(PMGSY) was launched in December 2020

This is a 100% Centrally Sponsored Scheme, to provide rural

connectivity to unconnected habitations with a population of
500 persons or more( 250 people in case of hilly, desert and
tribal areas)

5. Border Roads
Border roads organization(BRO) was set up in 1960, for
accelerating economic development and strengthening defense
preparedness through rapid and coordinated improvement of
roads in the north and North-Eastern border areas

This Border Roads Organisation(BRO) has constructed and black-

topped the highest road in the world at Umlingla Pass in Eastern
Ladakh. The highest motorable road in the world is situated at an
altitude of 19,300 feet.

6. Urban Roads
This is a road within the limits of the area of municipality, military
cantonment, port or railway authority

7. Project Road
A road within the limits of the area of a development project of a
public authority for the exploitation of resources such as forests,
irrigation, hydro-power, coal, etc. is called a project road

8. International Highways
The roads which are financed by the World Bank and connect
India with neighboring countries are called International
 Highways

There are two categories of such highways

1. The main arterial routes linking the capitals of neighboring

countries. Some of the examples of this category are the
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Lahore-Mandalay route, Agra-Gwalior-Hyderabad-
Bengaluru-Dhanushkodi road

2. The routes joining major cities, ports etc. with arterial routes
such as Agra-Mumbai road, Delhi-Multan road, Bengaluru-
Chennai Road

Geographical Distribution of Roads

There exist great variations in the distribution of roads in India

The length of National Highways passing through a state is not always a

true index of economic well being of a state, as they serve only the main
routes
Ex: Bihar has some of the longer route length of National highways,
still is Economically backward compared to other states