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Expressways of India
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The expressways of India are access-controlled toll highways featuring divided carriageways, engineered to support high-speed vehicular movement and to accommodate heavy loads. They constitute the highest class of road infrastructure in the Indian road network.[1] As of December 2024, the total length of expressways in India was 6,059 km (3,765 mi), with 11,127.69 km (6,914.43 mi) under construction.
A central reservation or median separates the traffic moving in opposite directions on expressways. Entry and exits are permitted only through grade separated interchanges. In contrast, National highways may or may not have a median and may lack full access-control.[2] Additionally, some highways constructed by State Governments, which may be fully or partially access-controlled, are designated or named as expressways by the respective State authorities.[3]
Fully opened in April 2002, Mumbai–Pune Expressway was India's first six-lane, access-controlled, inter-city tolled expressway. Spanning 94.5 km (58.7 mi) between Mumbai and Pune, within the state of Maharashtra, it set the benchmark for future expressway development in the country. Since then, expressway construction has significantly accelerated, particularly under the Bharatmala project and other infrastructure programmes both national and regional.[4]
As of 2024, the longest expressway in India is the partially-opened Delhi–Mumbai Expressway (Phase-3), spanning 1,015 km (631 mi), which was inaugurated on 18 December 2024.[5] The widest expressway is the Delhi–Gurgaon section of the Dwarka Expressway, featuring 16 lanes, which was also opened in 2024.
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History
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Pre-independence
While major roads in the Indian subcontinent existed as early as 29th Century BCE in the Indus Valley, the 3,655 km (2,271 mi) long Grand Trunk Road built by the Mauryans during 4th century BCE and later maintained by others, is one of the earliest examples of highest class road infrastructure in India.[6] In 1934, Indian Roads Congress (IRC) was formed to overlook development and research of roads in India and envisioned to achieve a road density of 16 km per 100 km2 of land pre-independence.[7] It was not until in 1995 when National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was established as an autonomous body to develop, maintain and manage India's road network through National Highways. NHAI would later build and operate various expressways in the country.[8]
Early expressways
In 1990, Government of Maharashtra appointed RITES to conduct a feasibility study for toll-based expressway between Mumbai and Pune, marking it as the first such initiative to construct an expressway in India. Four years later, RITES submitted its report and the project was estimated to cost ₹1,146 crore (equivalent to ₹75 billion or US$890 million in 2023). In March 1997, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) undertook the construction of the expressway on a Build–operate–transfer (BOT) model that allowed the state government to collect tolls for 30 years. At the end of the same year, after all environmental and forest clearances, the construction on the 94.5 km (58.7 mi) corridor commenced with first sections opening in 2000. In April 2002, India's first expressway was flagged to be fully operational, with an estimated construction cost of ₹1,630 crore (equivalent to ₹62 billion or US$740 million in 2023), which paved the way for more such expressways across the country.[4]
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On 24 January 2001, the eight-lane 7.5 km (4.7 mi) long DND Flyway between Delhi and Noida was operationalised, becoming the first urban expressway in India.[9] Following Mumbai-Pune, Ahmedabad–Vadodara Expressway was then opened between the cities of Ahmedabad and Vadodara in Gujarat on 16 August 2004. While this expressway was operationalised two years later, it was designated as National Expressway 1 (NE-1) back in 1986 by the Government of India.[10]
In 2009, with the advent of new expressway infrastructures coming up across India, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) was preparing to set-up National Expressways Authority of India (NEAI) to be in-charge of the construction and maintenance of expressways, however, the Ministry did not proceed with the creation of NEAI for unspecified reasons and NHAI continued to remain in-charge.[11]
Bharatmala pariyojana
_Mirage_-2000_lands_at_Yamuna_Expressway,_in_Uttar_Pradesh_on_May_20,_2015.jpg)
Prior to being subsumed under Bharatmala Pariyojana (lit. 'India garland project'), the government of India had launched National Highways Development Project (NHDP) in 1998 as a seven-step flagship project to construct highest class roads in India and to upgrade the existing ones. The phase-4 of which included the development of 1,000 km (620 mi) of expressways at an indicative cost of ₹15,000 crore (equivalent to ₹680 billion or US$8.0 billion in 2023).[12] In 2017, under Bharatmala about 1,900 km (1,200 mi) km of corridors had been identified for development of new expressways, of which 800 km (500 mi) were taken up under phase-1 of the project.[13]
In the 2010s, the states of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh took keen interest in investing in expressways through dedicated expressway corporations of MSRDC and UPEIDA respectively.[14] While Maharashtra led by MSRDC completed its second expressway with 701 km (436 mi) long Mumbai–Nagpur Expressway in June 2025, Uttar Pradesh had built four new expressways namely; Bundelkhand, Purvanchal, Agra–Lucknow and Yamuna expressways by the turn of early 2020s.[15] On 21 May 2015, in a first for military aviation and expressway infrastructure in India, the Indian Air Force's Dassault Mirage 2000 successfully landed on the Yamuna Expressway near Mathura in a mock-drill to evaluate the utility of using highways and expressways for emergency landings by military aircraft.[16]
In 2024, the government of India presented an ambitious 'Vision 2047' plan envisioning the construction of up to 50,000 km (31,000 mi) of access-controlled highways and expressways, with Indians gaining access to the expressways at a distance of 100–125 km (62–78 mi) from any point in the country. The ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) had also been finalising new guidelines to improve and standardise infrastructure along the already-developed highways with wayside amenities. Satellite-based tolling was also proposed to be started on 10-15 stretches in the same year.[17]
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Designation
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Expressway categories
Expressways in India are designated into three main categories:
- National Expressways (NE): Managed by NHAI under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), these are the medium to long-distance expressways which connect the major cities of India. Delhi–Mumbai Expressway, designated as National Expressway-4 (NE-4) is one such example of a National Expressway.
- Economic Corridors (EC): Also managed by NHAI under MoRTH, these expressways are being built across various Industrial corridors of India. Amritsar–Jamnagar Expressway, designated as Economic Corridor-3 (EC-3) is an example of Industrial expressway.
- State Expressways (SE): These are the regional expressways undertaken by respective state governments to connect the cities within a state. Mumbai–Nagpur Expressway undertaken by Maharashtra state-government's MSRDC is an example for regional expressway undertaken by the Maharashtra state government.
- Urban expressways: Additionally some urban governments and municipalities have also constructed expressways within or near urban areas to facilitate decongestion and faster movement within cities. DND Flyway between Delhi and Noida is an example for toll-free urban expressway.
- Bypass expressways: Bypass expressways are constructed to divert the through-traffic, away from urban areas and city centres. They reduce urban pollution and improve travel speed. Chennai Bypass Road is an example that is built to bypass Chennai.
- Spur expressways: Spur expressways in India are short corridors that branch off from a main expressway to connect important cities, towns, industrial zones or border areas, thus enhancing the regional connectivity. The 41 km (25 mi) long Nakodar–Amritsar spur section which branches off from the Delhi–Katra Expressway is an example.
Greenfield and Brownfield expressways
Greenfield Expressways in India are new expressways that are built on new alignments to facilitate economy of the areas they pass through. These newly built expressways allow for speeds up to 120 km/h (75 mph) and typically have space reserved between the carriages to allow for a future expansion. Delhi–Mumbai Expressway is an example which is being built with eight-lanes and a reserved space in the median to allow for future expansion of up to twelve lanes.[18] While Brownfield Expressways in India backed by 'Brownfield National Highway Project' (BNHP) are a series of projects undertaken to widen/re-develop existing national highways that have high traffic demand. The upgradation usually involves expansion of lanes from four to six, such as NH-709A.[19]
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Design standards
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Access
Access-control on Indian expressways offers uninterrupted high-speed travel and safety. It is mainly achieved through fencing, Grade separation with over-passes and under-passes, barriers or medians and with additional dedicated service roads for local traffic. Fully access-controlled expressways do not allow access from side roads, villages or properties but only via inter-changes. Partially access-controlled expressways allow access at some at-grade junctions and minor road crossings may exist. Non access-controlled roads are conventional highways that have a mix of local and through traffic without any entry restrictions.
Carriageways
All Indian expressways have dual carriageways, one for each direction, separated by a median. Each carriageway typically has at least two lanes, with three to four lanes also being common. Most Greenfield expressways have a reserved space between the carriages for future expansion in number of lanes. Some expressways utilise concrete or metal beam crash barriers for safety. Paved shoulders or emergency lanes also exist beside each carriageway to support during the event of accident. Service lanes on each direction are often provided outside the fenced area for local traffic.
The Indian Roads Congress (IRC) has specified guidelines for designing access-controlled highways with its IRC:SP:99-2013 standard. It specifies a standard lane width of 3.5 m (11 ft) with paved shoulders having a width of 2–2.5 m (6 ft 7 in – 8 ft 2 in) and unpaved shoulders having 1 m (3 ft 3 in) width.[20]
Interchanges
Inter-changes are junctions that connect expressway with other roads, highways or other expressways without interrupting the flow of traffic. They improve safety by eliminating right-angle collisions. Indian expressways have various interchanges designed for suitability. System interchanges—such as cloverleaf, three-way, trumpet connect with other national or state highways. Service interchanges—such as Single Point Diamond Interchange (SPDI) are used for connecting smaller roads.[21]
The design of inter-changes for Indian expressways and highways are governed by IRC:SP:99-2013 and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) guidelines. While Cloverleaf interchanges require at least 20-30 acres of land, directional flyovers require less. The inter-change designs include acceleration/deceleration lanes for safe merging.[20]
Speed
High-speed travel is a key feature on Indian expressways unlike conventional highways where speeds are low due to local traffic and cattle interruptions. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has set speed limits based on road geometry and vehicle type. Some Greenfield expressways are designed for speeds up to 150 km/h (93 mph) but are legally capped at 120 km/h (75 mph) for safety, with some expressways capped as low as 100 km/h (62 mph). For heavy vehicles such as buses and trucks, it is usually capped at 80–100 km (50–62 mi).[22] The minimum designed speed on ramps on inter-changes per IRC is 40–60 km (25–37 mi).[20]
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Infrastructure
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Tolls
Expressways in India excluding some urban ones are tolled. They are implemented to recover cost of construction, maintenance and operations, and are primarily managed by NHAI under MoRTH. The tolls are levied based on vehicle category, type of expressway and distance travelled. They form a great source of revenue for funding the expanding expressway network in India. Only designated interchanges allow entry and exit into the tolls. Rates of tolls are revised every year on April 1, based on the Wholesale price index (WPI) to adjust for inflation.[24][25]
FASTag
FASTag is an Electronic toll collection (ETC) system operated in India by NHAI under MoRTH. It uses Radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology to enable automatic deduction of toll charges at toll plazas on Indian expressways, allowing for vehicles to pass without stopping for toll transactions.[26]
The FASTag system is based on the National Electronic Toll Collection (NTEC) programme developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) as a part of India's efforts to digitise highway infrastructure and reduce congestion on toll plazas. It was launched in 2014 as a pilot project on the Ahmedabad–Mumbai section of Golden Quadrilateral highway. From 15 February 2021, fastag became mandatory for all four-wheeled vehicles on national highways.[27]
Wayside amenities
Offered by NHAI under MoRTH, Wayside Amenities (WSAs) are dedicated rest and service facilities located along Indian expressways and other national highways to improve road travel comfort, safety, and logistics. They offer rest, food, fuel, charging stations and similar services to both passengers and freight vehicles. The help in reducing driver fatigue, supporting logistics movement and in promoting highway tourism. They are typically located at intervals of 40–50 km (25–31 mi) along expressways. In June 2025, NHAI announced an ambitious plan of establishing over 1000 WSAs over a period of five years under Public–private partnership. The WSAs in the plan include setting up of fuel stations and EV charging points, food courts, dhabas and restaurants, convenience stores, medical and childcare rooms, promotional spaces for local artisans, drone landing facilities and helipads at larger sites.[28]
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Financing
The financing of Indian expressways is achieved through a combination of public funding, private investment, multilateral lending and via tolls. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) sets policy and budget allocations while National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is responsible for implementation and collection of tolls. The private sector entities participate through various Public–private partnership models. A significant amount of funding for expressways comes from central government allocations, especially under Bharatmala Pariyojana. In the 2023-24 Union budget of India, MoRTH was allocated ₹270,000 crore (US$32 billion), of which a large share was dedicated for expressways and economic corridor developments.[29] In 2024–25, NHAI earned over ₹41,000 crore (US$4.8 billion) in toll revenue, with projections of ₹130,000 crore (US$15 billion) by 2030 through FASTag and monetisation of roads.[30]
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National expressways
Operational national expressways
The following list contains operational national expressways built and operated by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
Under-construction national expressways
Proposed national expressways
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Bypass expressways
Operational bypass expressways
Under-construction bypass expressways
Proposed bypass expressways
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Expressways operated by state
The following list consists expressways of India, built and operated by their respective state governments, rather than NHAI.
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See also
References
External links
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