Geography of India For RPSC RAS Prelims: National Highways & Major Transport Corridors. A transport corridor is a generally linear area that is defined by one or more modes of transportation crossing the limits of more than one city or county. It’s essentially a route or pathway that connects different regions, facilitating the movement of people, goods, and services.
The main characteristics of a transport corridor are Linearity, Multi-modal, Connectivity, and Economic significance.
The Examples of transport corridors is Interstate highways, Rail lines, Shipping lanes, and Air routes
The Benefits of transport corridors is Economic growth, Regional development, Job creation and improved accessibility.
Also, read: Geography of India For RPSC RAS Prelims
National Highways & Major Transport Corridors
1. India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC): Envisioned to connect India with Europe via the Arabian Peninsula, the IMEEC aims to facilitate trade through rail and sea links. This corridor promises to offer a strategic alternative route for goods transportation, bypassing traditional chokepoints like the Suez Canal.
2. International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC): A project conceptualized two decades ago, the INSTC seeks to establish a 7,200-kilometer multi-modal network of ship, rail, and road routes connecting India through Iran and Central Asia to Russia. This corridor not only aims to streamline goods transportation but also serves as a strategic link for countries facing Western sanctions, like Iran and Russia.
3. Chennai-Vladivostok Corridor: This route focuses on enhancing India’s connectivity with the Russian Far East, promising direct access to vital Russian ports and facilitating smoother trade flows between the two countries.
It is a nodal agency of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). NHAI has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for satellite mapping of highways.
- Golden Quadrilateral
- North–South and East–West Corridor
- National-Green-Highway-Mission
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was created through the promulgation of the National Highways Authority of India Act, 1988.
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 km in India.
National Highways in India List
| S. No | New Name | Old Name | Description |
| 1 | NH 1 | NH 1A and NH 1D | One of the oldest highways in India, which connects Delhi & Amritsar. |
| 2 | NH 19 | NH 2 – Part of Golden Quadrilateral | Connects Palanpur in Gujarat and Panvel in Maharashtra. |
| 3 | NH 244 | NH 1B | Part of the Golden Quadrilateral connects Delhi and Kolkata. |
| 4 | NH 519 | NH 2A | Connects Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh and UP. |
| 5 | NH 114 | NH 2B | Connects the different cities of Moradabad & Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. |
| 6 | NH 60 | NH 3 and NH 50 | Connects Kolkata & Mumbai via Kharagpur, Bhubaneswar, & Vishakhapatnam. |
| 7 | NH 4 | NH 223 | Connects Mumbai and Chennai via Pune and Bangalore. |
| 8 | NH 748 | NH 4A | Connects Belgaum in Karnataka with Goa. |
| 9 | NH 348 | NH 4B | Connects Hospet in Karnataka with Hubli. |
| 10 | NH 16 | NH 5, NH 6, NH 60, and NH 217 – part of Golden Quadrilateral | Part of Golden Quadrilateral which connects Chennai and Kolkata via Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneswar. |
| 11 | NH 44 | NH 7 | Connects Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir with Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu. |
| 12 | NH 138 | NH 7A | Connects Hyderabad with Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh. |
| 13 | NH 48 | NH 8 – part of Golden Quadrilateral | Part of the Golden Quadrilateral which connects Delhi and Mumbai via Jaipur, Ahmedabad, and Vadodara. |
| 14 | NH 41 | NH 8A | Connects Ahmedabad and Kandla in Gujarat |
| 15 | NH 147 | NH 8C | Connects Ahmedabad with Dholera in Gujarat. |
| 16 | NH 151 | NH 8D | Connects Godhra in Gujarat and Bamanbore in Rajasthan. |
| 17 | NH 65 | NH 9 | Connects Pune in Maharashtra and Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh. |
| 18 | NH 21 | NH 11 | Connects Ambala in Haryana with Chandigarh. |
| 19 | NH 148 | NH 11A | Connects Dehradun in Uttarakhand with Chamba in Himachal Pradesh. |
| 20 | NH 45 | NH 12 | Connects Dindigul in Tamil Nadu with Bangalore in Karnataka. |
| 21 | NH 40 | NH 18 and NH 4 | Connects Hyderabad in Telangana with Bangalore in Karnataka. |
| 22 | NH 5 | NH 21, NH 22, and NH 95 | Connects Chennai in Tamil Nadu with Kolkata in West Bengal via Vijayawada and Bhubaneswar. |
| 23 | NH 320 | NH 23 | Connects Barhi in Jharkhand with Hazaribagh in the same state. |
| 24 | NH 530 | NH 24 | Connects Delhi with Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. |
| 25 | NH 319 | NH 30 | Connects Ahmedabad with Dholka in Gujarat. |
| 26 | NH 112 | NH 35 | Connects Kolkata with Dawki in Meghalaya. |
| 27 | NH 129 | NH 39 | Connects Numaligarh in Assam and Dimapur in Nagaland. |
| 28 | NH 544 | NH 47 | Connects Salem in Tamil Nadu with Kanyakumari. |
| 29 | NH 966B | NH 47A | Connects Kundanoor with Willingdon Island in Kochi, Kerala. |
| 30 | NH 966A | NH 47C | Connects Kundanoor with Vyttila Mobility Hub in Kochi, Kerala. |
| 31 | NH 110 | NH 55 | Connects Salem with Karur in Tamil Nadu. |
| 32 | NH 731 | NH 56 | Connects Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh with Ranchi in Jharkhand. |
| 33 | NH 156 | NH 79 | Connects Anand in Gujarat and Udaipur in Rajasthan. |
| 34 | NH 127A | NH 152 | Connects Chandigarh with Manali in Himachal Pradesh. |
| 35 | NH 315 | NH 38 and NH 153 | Connects Jaipur with Kishangarh in Rajasthan. |
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