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In 2005–06, about nine out of every 10 kilometers of national highways were two-lane or below. Today, one-third of the network is four-lane and above
Another series of changes over the years has included using locally available materials for road construction, with particular emphasis on recycling.
Backed by unprecedented budget allocations and large-scale mechanized construction, India has expanded its four-lane and above national highway network nearly six-fold in the last two decades, marking a structural shift in road capacity.
For 2026-27, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has been allocated Rs 3.09 lakh crore, almost 20 times more than Rs 15,450 crore in 2009-10. The allocation for 2026-27 is about 2.5 times that of 2021-22. A significant jump of nearly 70 per cent was recorded between 2021-22 and 2022-23 as the allocation increased from Rs 1.23 lakh crore to Rs 2.08 lakh crore. MoRTH, in its current independent form, was created in 2009. Before 2009, road transport and highways were managed under different ministerial nomenclature.
Analysis of past data shows that the length of national highways has doubled since 2008-09. The total length of National Highways (NH) at the end of the financial year 2008-09 was 70,548 km, which has now increased to 1.46 lakh km by December 2025. This means a total of 76,024 km of national highways have been added in length – which is more than the total expansion recorded between 1951 and 2008-09. The length of national highways in 1951 was 19,811 km.
In 2005–06, India had 66,590 km of national highways, of which only 7,856 km were four-lane or above. Today, the figure stands at 48,421 km, an expansion of more than six times. The analysis shows that 40,000 km of additional four-lane and above highways were added in less than two decades. The share of roads with four lanes and above is to increase from 12 per cent in 2005-06 to about 33 per cent in 2025-26 by December.
In 2005–06, about nine out of every 10 kilometers of national highways were two-lane or below. Today, one-third of the network is four-lane and above.
Overall, India has added about 80,000 km of national highways since 2005-06 – increasing from 66,590 km in 2005-06 to 1,46,572 km now.
Two-lane national highway roads hold the largest share, doubling from 37,238 km in 2005-06 to 84,774 km by December in 2025-26. On the other hand, the length of roads below two lanes decreased from 21,496 km to 13,000 km in 2005–06.
Over the years, India’s highway strategy has evolved from expanding connectivity to upgrading corridor capacity, moving from primarily two-lane highways to multi-lane corridors and fully access-controlled expressways. The emphasis is now not just on increasing kilometres, but on increasing carrying capacity, reducing travel time and strengthening long-term logistics efficiency.
Journey towards faster road construction
Let us first understand how the pace of road construction has changed. India was building about 5,000 km to 6,000 km of national highways by 2015–16. Construction output doubled between 2014–15 and 2018–19, crossing the 10,000 km mark for the first time. Since then, annual construction has remained largely above that limit.
In terms of daily average, after 2016-17, India is building more than 20 km of national highways every day, compared to less than 15 km in previous years.
In 2020-21, India touched 36.5 km per day, the fastest construction pace on record. Till December this year the speed was 18 kilometers per day. The pace is expected to improve in the last quarter of the financial year. last month, News18 had given the news This time road construction was affected due to prolonged rainy season.
Measures to boost growth also include a shift to the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM). The model was approved in January 2016 to accelerate the construction of national highways in the country by renewing the interest of private developers in highway projects.
Under this, 40 per cent of the project cost is to be provided by the Center as construction assistance and the remaining 60 per cent is to be provided as annuity payment along with interest to the concessionaire during the operation period. The objective of this initiative was to maximize the volume of projects implemented within the available financial resources of the government and to revive private sector participation in the sector.
Before HAM, many national highway projects were stuck due to funding tensions. The introduction of HAM has accelerated the pace of construction as well as project awards.
To further improve revenue transparency, the Ministry gradually shifted to electronic toll collection through FASTag from 2017, which significantly reduced leakages in toll collection. These measures helped stabilize the project’s cash flows and restore private participation.
More funds with the ministry means that it can execute multiple projects and packages simultaneously and there will be no delays in payments or due to lack of funds. However, apart from funds many other factors also affect the speedy completion of the project, including land acquisition, forest/wildlife clearance, railway/other agency clearances, utility shifting etc.
Other factors helping the ministry in expediting road construction include extension of EPC contracts, large-scale mechanization and digital project monitoring. These measures transformed highway construction from a financially limited process to a high-capacity, industrial-scale operation.
In 2012, the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure approved the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreement for the construction of two-lane national highways. Till then, National Highway projects that were not viable on BOT/annuity mode were taken up under traditional item-rate contracts, which were prone to time and cost overruns.
EPC relies on awarding the responsibility of investigation, design and construction to a contractor at a lump sum price under a fixed deadline determined through competitive bidding.
Land acquisition has been a major hurdle for road construction. But in the last few years, this was also simplified to speed up land acquisition for national highway projects.
The Bharatmala project launched in 2017 took highway construction to another level. With this, roads were no longer fragmented projects but economic corridors were mapped keeping freight movement in mind.
With more and more innovations, the entire road construction sector has turned towards mechanized construction and industrial scale execution, thereby reducing manual dependency while maintaining better quality control and ensuring less rework, resulting in increased daily laying capacity.
The use of slipform pavers – specialized construction machines that continuously place, compact and mold concrete for roads without any fixed side form – has significantly increased speed and efficiency compared to manual leveling.
Mixing road construction materials in precise proportions is an important step. Widespread adoption of automated batching plants improved consistency and scale. Previously, mixing of cement, aggregates, water and additives was done manually, resulting in inconsistent quality, frequent testing interruptions and high rejection rates.
With automated batching plants – advanced, fully computerized systems designed for high precision – mass production of consistent, high-quality concrete is possible. It allows digital weighing of materials, automatic mixing cycles and quality monitoring in real time for fast material dispatch and continuous feeding of pavers.
Digital project monitoring using GPS-enabled devices, sensor-based rollers and drones has also emphasized faster problem resolution and reducing administrative lag.
Another series of changes over the years has included using locally available materials for road construction, with particular emphasis on recycling.
Since November 2015, the ministry has made it mandatory for all national highway developers in the country to use bituminous as well as waste plastic in road construction. This improved the durability of bituminous roads.
Overall, higher capital allocation, financing model reforms and industrial-scale mechanization have transformed highway development from a slow, fragmented process to a programmatic, corridor-driven expansion strategy. The change is not just in kilometers built, but also in the quality, capacity and economic role of India’s road network.
March 07, 2026, 15:55 IST
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