Classification of Roads in India

A. National Highways
National Highways from the most important system of road transportation in India. These highways are running through length and breadth of the country connecting capitals of states, major ports rail junctions, industrial and tourist centers.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of India, is responsible for the development and maintenance of National Highways in India. The longest National Highway is NH-44 which runs from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to kanniyakumari in Tamil Nadu covering a distance of 2369 km. The shortest national highway is NH-47 A, which runs from Ernakulam to kochi port (willington Island) covering a distance of 6 km.

b) State Highways
The state highways are usually roads that link important cities, towns and district headquarters within the state and connect them with national highways or highways of neighbouring states. These roads are administered and financed by state governments.

C) District Roads
District Roads provide connectivity between the district and taluk headquarters with in state highways and national highways. District Roads are constructed and maintained by the Public Works Department of the states.

D) Rural Roads (Village Roads)
These roads are vital for providing links in the rural areas. It links the different villages with neighbouring towns. They are maintained by village panchayats.

E) Border Roads
These are the roads of strategic importance in border areas. They are constructed and maintained by Border Roads Organization. It was established in 1960 for the development of the roads of strategic importance in the northern and northeastern border areas. Border Roads Organization has constructed world’s highest road joining Chandigarh and Leh in Ladakh. This road runs at an average altitude of 4,270 meters.

F) Golden Quadrilateral
Golden Quadrilateral 5,846 km long road of4/6 lanes connects, India’s four metropolitan cities: Delhi-Kolkata-Chennai-Mumbai-Delhi. This project was launched in 1999.

G) North-South and East-West Corridors
North-South corridor aims at connecting Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir with Kanniyakumari in Tamil Nadu (including Kochi-Salem Spur) with 4,076km long road. The East-West Corridor has been planned connect silchar in Assam with 3640km of road length. The two corridors intersect at Jhansi.

H) Expressways
These are multi-lane good quality highways for high speed traffic. Some of the important expressways are;
Mumbai-Pune Road,
Kolkata-Dumdum Airport road
Durgapur-kolkata Road
Yamuna expressway between Delhi and Agra.