National highways connect capitals, important places, ports and places of strategic importance of various states. Though national highways account for only 2% of the total road length, they carry nearly 1/3 of the total traffic.The is responsible for the maintenance of the national highway system.

It operates under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. National Highways (NHs) are the means of transportation on which traffic commute on one place to other, these are under control of central jurisdiction, like NHAI control its design construction and maintenance.

Technically speaking there is no difference between state Highways and NHs. India has 142,126 km (88,313 mi) of National Highways as of April 2019.

National Highways constituted 2.7% of India’s total road network, but carried about 40% of road traffic, as of 2013.In 2016, the vowed to double the highway length from 96,000 to 200,000 km.

The majority of existing highways are two-lane roads (one lane in each direction), though much of this is being expanded to four or more lanes. Some sections of the network are toll roads. Only a few highways are built with concrete.

Bypasses have been constructed around larger towns and cities to provide uninterrupted passage for highway traffic. Some existing roads have been reclassified as National Highways.