Digital, AI focus to strengthen India's road to quality highways

India’s national highways have over the last 25 years grown more than twofold: from around 58,000 km to 146,145 km last year, making the network an engine for economic growth. 

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, which constructs and operates highways through agencies such as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), has seen its budgetary allocations rise significantly. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocated Rs 2.8 trillion for national highways in FY25. 

In the last decade, investments in the national highways sector (public and private) have nearly sextupled to Rs 3 trillion in FY25. Covid-19 brought a fresh influx