The North–South and East–West Corridor is a network of

national highways National Highways (NH), formerly Highways England and before that the Highways Agency, is a State-owned enterprise, government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving Roads in England, motorways and major A roads in Eng ...

connecting major cities of India. It consists of two highway systems – the North–South highway extending from

Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...

in the north to

Kanyakumari Kanyakumari (Tamil; / kəɳjɑkʊmɑɾiː/; referring to Devi Kanya Kumari, officially known as Kanniyakumari, formerly known as Cape Comorin) is a town and a municipality in Kanyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the ...

in the south with a spur to

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

and the East–West highway extending from

Silchar Silchar is a city and the headquarters of the Cachar district of the state of Assam, India. It is second largest city of Assam after Guwahati in terms of population and GDP. It is also administrative capital of Barak Valley division. It is locate ...

in the east to

Porbandar Porbandar is a city and the headquarters of Porbandar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Sudama. It was the former capital of the Porbandar State, Porbandar princely state. Porbandar and Chhaya, ...

in the west. The project was part of the first phase of the

National Highways Development Project The National Highways Development Project (NHDP) was a project of four laning of existing national highways and six laning of selected major national highways of India. The project was started in 1998 under the leadership of Prime Minister of I ...

executed by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. The roads were constructed and are maintained by the National Highway Authority of India under the purview of the

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is a ministry of the Government of India, that is the apex body for formulation and administration of the rules, regulations and laws relating to road transport, transport research and in al ...

. The road system consists of access controlled four or six-lane highways, built at a cost of billion. , about of the project was complete.

Background and planning

In 1998, the

launched the

(NHDP). The project envisaged the development of about of four and six lane highways at an estimated cost of . The North–South and East–West Corridor project is part of the second phase of NHDP, and involved the construction of of multi-lane highways connecting the major cities. It was intended to establish better and faster transport networks thereby reducing costs, and drive economical growth by providing better access to markets.

Construction

National Highways Authority of India The National Highways Authority of India or NHAI () is an autonomous agency of the Government of India, set up in 1995 (Act 1988) and is responsible for management of a road network of over 50,000 km of National highways out of 1,32,499 ...

(NHAI) was tasked with the implementation of the project. As per the original plan, the project was intended to be completed by 2007. As of 2001, about were converted to four-laned roads. Only 11% of the work was completed by December 2005 and the revised deadline was set for December 2009. However, the government informed the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok ...

in 2009 that only 59% of the work was complete. A parlimenatry panel probe revealed that about of the highways were complete in 2012 and the panel further criticised NHAI for the delay in the project citing inadequate planning. , about of the project has been completed.

Network

The North–South and East–West Corridor consists of multi-lane highways connecting major cities. It consists of two highway systems – the North–South highway extending from

in the north to

in the south with a spur to

and the East–West highway extending from

in the east to

in the west. Nh 7

Major towns

References

External links