49. Case 45: Golden Quadrilateral Highway, India

Road transport accounts for 65% of freight movement and 80% of passenger traffic in India. National highways account for 40% of the total national traffic but account for just 2% of the total road infrastructure. This largest highway project ever undertaken in India was aimed at improving the Golden Quadrilateral network, the North–South and East–West (NS–EW) corridors, port connectivity and other projects. Golden Quadrilateral Highway is the fifth longest highway project in the world with total length of 5846 km. It is the first nationwide central project to build a network of four lane highways to link the metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. The project consists of four/six lane express highways. The large network of highways in India are managed by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).