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of heavy traffic as only about 20 % of such roads are surfaced. The decadal figures
of the road network under all these categories are provided in the Table –3. As
would be seen from the table, the aggregate length of roads, which was 0.4 million
km in 1950-51, had increased more than 10 fold to 4.11 million km by 2007-08.
Table 3: India-Road Network (in KM)
Road Category 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 2004 2008
National
19811 23798 23838 31671 33650 57737 65569 66754*
Highways
(5.0) (4.5) (2.6) (2.1) (1.4) (1.7) (1.8) (1.6)
State Highways
56765 94359 127311 132100 133177 154522
173723 257125 (6.2) (6.4) (5.5) (3.9) (3.7) (3.8)
Other PWD (43.4) (49.0) 276833 421895 509435 736001 719257 863241
Roads
(30.3) (28.4) (21.9) (21.8) (19.9) (21.0)
Rural Roads 206408 197194 354530 628865 1264154 1972016 2140569 2450559
(51.6) (37.6) (38.7) (42.3) (54.2) (58.5) (59.1) (59.6)
Project & Urban
46361 203013 308631 396536 475666 362935 574516
Roads
(8.8) (22.2) (20.8) (17.0) (14.1) (15.5) (14.0)
Total 399942 524478 914979 1485421 2331086 3373520 3621507 4109592
Note: Figures within parenthesis indicate per cent to total road length in each road category;
*70,934 km as on 31.3.2010
6. National Highways
6.1 National Highways are the arterial roads of the country for inter-state and
movements of passengers and goods. They traverse the length and width of the
country connecting the National and State capitals, major ports and rail junctions
and link up with border roads and foreign highways.
6.2 Details of the National Highways (State-wise) are presented in Section 2 of the
Statistical Tables Section (Table 2.1). During the period 2000 to 2008, National
Highways expanded by over 28 %. Out of the total length (66,754 km) of National
Highways as on 31.3.2008, 27 per cent is of single lane/intermediate lane, 58 per cent
is 2-lane standard and the balance of 15 per cent is 4-lane standard or more.
6.3 NHAI was set up under an act of Parliament, “The National Highways Authority
of India Act, 1998”. It became operational in February 1995. NHAI is mandated to:
(a) develop, maintain and manage National Highways entrusted to it; (b) collect
fees on National Highways and; (c) facilitate private sector participation. In order to
expand and improve road connectivity in the country, the Government has
launched National Highways Development Project (NHDP). It is the largest highway
project ever undertaken in the country. The NHDP is being implemented by National
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