National Highways

National Highways in India
National Highways are the main long-distance roadways in India and one of the highly used means of transport in India. They playa significant role in the Indian economy.
The National Highways, the majority 2 laned (one in each direction), constitute a total of about 65,000 km, out of which 5,840 km is to be converted into “Swarna Chathuspatha” or Golden Quadrilateral, of which 4,885 km are median-separated express highways. In some more developed areas it may broaden to 4 lanes. Closer to big cities, highways can even be of 8 lanes. Highways in India are around 2% of the total road network in India, but carries nearly 40% of the total road traffic. The National Highways (Amendment) Bill, 1995, provides for private investment in the building and maintenance of these arteries of India.
The longest NH is the NH7 which is from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to Kanyakumari at the southern most point of the Indian mainland, in Tamil Nadu covering a distance of 2369 km, and passing through the metros like Jabalpur, Nagpur, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The shortest NH is the NH47A, which is a 6 km stretch to the Ernakulam – Kochi Port. India has the distinction of having the world’s highest drivable highway connecting Manali to Leh in Ladakh, Kashmir.