Roadways in India are like the thread binding the topographical variations in India. The road network of India has proven its efficiency by providing its infrastructural contribution to the growth of the Indian economy. India is a land of diversities and the Indian roads act as a national integration force providing the necessary adhesive for bringing the people from all corners together as easily as possible.
The road transport system of India is one of the most widespread networks. It spans the entire nation in the form of small pagdandis, ring roads, flyovers, highways, expressways and freeways. The roadways travel has developed into an infrastructure strength that has given the Indian economy the necessary backbone support.
The road network in India especially in the more remote areas helps in the development of these regions by connecting them to nearby cities making the modern day facilities more accessible to them. Roadways of India has helped enhance the productivity of certain areas and contributed to the evolving of a more competitive infrastructure and economy on a world level.
Road transport in India or roadways transport contributes to 60% freight or cargo transport and 80% passenger transport of India. These include roadways buses, roadways express services, transport both public and commercial systems and others. Special buses of Indian roadways equipped with automated speed enforcement systems are gaining popularity and also the attention of various state governments owing to the rising cases of road accidents due to uncontrolled speeds of the roadways buses.
Various websites provide Indian road maps that give you the exact India road distances and some sites also provide India road distance calculator that gives you a clearer idea of the distance you would be traveling. Road transportation in India is a state government entity with individual roadways enquiry systems per state.
The various modes of transportation in India and the road infrastructure in India are under the management and administration of the respective state or union territory governments. The exception is the national highways that is the Central Government responsibility and managed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
The roadways map of India shows five types of roads namely:
- National Highways
- State Highways
- Major District Roads
- Other District Roads
- Village Roads
The national highways contribute to a mere 2% of the road infrastructure of India, but carry the roadways freight of over 40%. There are 259 national highways in India covering over 52, 000 Kms distance. The national highways pass through all the states in India and connect the major cities of India including the metro cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Gurgaon etc. to other remote cities like Kullu, Shimla, Kangra, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Bagdogra, Bhopal, Udaipur, Gwalior, Aurangabad, Ranchi, Varanasi, Guwahati, Tirupati, Coimbatore, Tiruchirapali, Madurai, Thiruvananthapuram, Bhubaneswar, Indore, Vijayawada etc.