Indian road network

India has a road network of over 5,472,144 kilometres (3,400,233 mi) as on 31 March 2015, the second largest road network in the world. At 1.66 km of roads per square kilometre of land, the quantitative density of India's road network is higher than that of Japan (0.91) and the United States (0.67), and far higher than that of China (0.46), Brazil (0.18) or Russia (0.08). However, qualitatively India's roads are a mix of modern highways and narrow, unpaved roads, and are being improved. As on 31 March 2015, 61.05% of Indian roads were paved.

Adjusted for its large population, India has less than 3.8 kilometres of roads per 1000 people, including all its paved and unpaved roads. In terms of quality, all season, 4 or more lane highways, India has less than 0.07 kilometres of highways per 1000 people, as of 2010. These are some of the lowest road and highway densities in the world. For context, United States has 21 kilometres of roads per 1000 people, while France about 15 kilometres per 1000 people – predominantly paved and high quality in both cases. In terms of all season, 4 or more lane highways, developed countries such as United States and France have a highway density per 1000 people that is over 15 times as India.

India in its past did not allocate enough resources to build or maintain its road network. This has changed since 1995, with major efforts currently underway to modernize the country's road infrastructure.

As of April 2015, India had completed and placed in use over 24,000 kilometres of recently built 4 or 6-lane highways connecting many of its major manufacturing centres, commercial and cultural centres. The rate of new highway construction across India accelerated after 1999, but has slowed in recent years. Policy delays and regulatory blocks reduced the rate of highway construction awards to just 500 kilometers of new road projects in 2013. Major projects are being implemented under the National Highways Development Project, a government initiative. Private builders and highway operators are also implementing major projects - for example, the Yamuna Expressway between Delhi and Agra was completed ahead of schedule and within budget, while the KMP Expressway started in 2006 is far behind schedule, over budget and incomplete.

According to 2009 estimates by Goldman Sachs, India will need to invest US$1.7 trillion on infrastructure projects before 2020 to meet its economic needs, a part of which would be in upgrading India's road network. The Government of India is attempting to promote foreign investment in road projects. Foreign participation in Indian road network construction has attracted 45 international contractors and 40 design/engineering consultants, with Malaysia, South Korea, United Kingdom and United States being the largest players.

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