Road Network : With a network of 2.7 million kilometres of road length, India has the Third largest road network in the world. From a road length of about 4 lakh kilometres in 1950-51. The road network has expanded nearly Seven-Fold. National Highways : The National Highway System is the primary road grid of the Country. The construction and maintenance of National Highways is the direct
responsibility of the Central Government. National Highways have a total length of 34,258 kilometres. National Highways carry nearly 40% of the total traffic.
Highways Authority : The main task of the authority is to takeover in a phased manner, the construction, maintenance and operation of the national highways. Before the constitution ofthe authority the maintenance of the roads was done by the State PWDs.
Twelve of the principal highways are :
1. Delhi-Amritsar
2. Delhi-Kolkanda
3. Agra-Mumbai
4. Jalandhar-Srinagar-Uri
5. Delhi-Ahmedabad-Mumbai
6. Chandigarh-Manali
7. Ambala-Shimla-Tibet
8. Jorhat-Shillong-Bangladesh
9. Manali-Leh
10. Pathankot-Mandi
11. Cochin-Madurai
12. Beawar-Sirohi-Kandla.
Longest N H - 7 ( kanyakumari to varanasi )