How National Highways Are Numbered In India

Some time back I had gone on this motorcycle trip all across the country and passed through every state in India. I can safely assume that I have rode through quite a few national highways in India. Sometimes I would notice the highway numbers on the milestones on the side of the road. I never gave a fuck. Practically speaking it just doesn't matter when you are riding. I mean if someone were to ask you directions from Jammu to Leh what do you tell them

1) Take the NH44 from Jammu. When you reach Srinagar take NH1 to Leh

OR

2) Take the highway from Jammu to Srinagar which goes via Udhampur, Rambhan, Banihal. When you reach Srinagar ask for the road to Leh. You will pass through Sonamarg, Dras, Kargil, Lamayuru before reaching Leh.

Unless you are an absolute geek, I am guessing you would go with option number 2.

Now it is a little amusing as to how the highways are numbered. There seems to be no logic to it. I thought maybe the highways are numbered according to the IQ of the politician who sanctioned it. But then I saw this

NH - 147. The number 147 got me perplexed. There is no Indian politician with an IQ in 3 digits. Surely this has to be random. It is only now when I came across this thread in Quora that I came to know that there is a method to this madness on how the national highways are going to be numbered.

Just keep in mind that I am talking about the new numbering system, the notification of which came in 28th April 2010. You might still see the old highway numbers on milestones and signboards. They are being replaced. The Indian government is working with the swiftness of a snail high on weed to make sure all the new signboards and milestones are repainted with the new numbers.

Here are the highlights of the new Rationalized Numbering System

1) All East-West highways now have odd numbers, starting in the North and increasing in number towards the South. In other words, the greater the latitude the smaller the N-H number and vice-versa ie NH-1 in J&K and NH-87 in Tamil Nadu

NH - 1 near Leh, J&K

2) Similarly, all North-South highways now have even numbers, starting in the East and increasing in number towards the West. In other words, the greater the longitude the smaller the NH number and vice-versa i.e NH-2 in the North-East States of India and NH-68 in Rajasthan & Gujarat.

NH -2 near Imphal, Manipur

3) Major highways have single- or double-digit numbers. Offshoots of these highways have triple digits (either with or without a suffix alphabet). For example, offshoots of NH 2 are numbered 102, 202, 302 and 502. Please note that the last two digits indicate the Major Highway.

NH - 102 from Imphal to Moreh in Manipur

4) In the numbering of the Offshoot Highways, the first digit of the three digit number will indicate the direction i.e if the first digit is odd number it says the road is in East-West direction and if even it indicates North–South direction.

NH - 108 in Mizoram.The first digit 1 being odd indicates E - W direction of this offshoot road from NH - 8

5) Suffixes A, B, C, D etc are added to the three digit sub highways to indicate very small spin-offs or stretches of sub-highways. For example, 966A, 527D etc

NH - 527D Raxaul border (Bihar - Nepal)

Here is the Renumbered National Highways Map of India

Image Source

The government of India in its notification says and I quote ".. that existing number of National Highway does not give any indication of its location and direction. Therefore, Ministry has adopted a systematic numbering of National Highways vide above said notification. It will indicate the direction of National Highways whether it is East - West or North - South and also the geographical region where it is located"

You can view the circular here

But I am not sure if this information going to be of any use in figuring out the location ?

Lets say I am stranded somewhere in NH 53 and I call up an emergency number and say 

Me: "Hey I am stranded in NH 53"

Operator: "Sir could you let us know your location ?"

Me: "You dumb piece of shit. I told you its NH 53. Can't you figure out that its a East West direction road since the highway number is odd and National highways in East West direction are numbered odd in the north to south direction, you can't figure out where I am. What kind of a moron am I dealing with here "

Operator: "Sorry Sir. My bad. Help should reach you in 30 minutes"

Call me a skeptical cunt but I don't think help will reach me in 30 minutes with this piece of information. Pardon me for being a bit old school but when I get stranded in a highway I generally tend to ask a passer by about the nearest town and try to pass on that information to the people I might be calling for help.

The only time I feel this information could be useful to you is if Amitabh Bachchan asks you this question in the Kaun Banega Crorepati.

North - South direction, the number has to be even. The answer is C, NH - 44. In case you win a big amount on the show because of this blog, please don't be a dick and do send across some of it my way. You could connect with me on my 

1) Facebook page : The Clueless Rider

2) Instagram Account : thecluelessrider

3) Twitter handle : Clueless_Rider

And of course through this blog.

You can have a detailed list of the National Highways in India in this wikipedia page. 

But however much you talk about the roads and the highways, the best pictures still come a little off the highway

Somewhere off the Highway near Leh

About Me:

A 7 month motorcycle ride that took me to every state in India, parts of Nepal and Bhutan and one town in Burma. These blog entries are inspired by this trip. Stories about people I met, stories about places I saw. Things that intrigued me, things that amused me. They say traveling changes you, they say traveling inspires you and they say a lot of other stuff. I don't know. I think a gun on the head is a better way to change people. I just hope that my travel stories entertain you

Right now I am in the process of writing a book based on this trip and figuring out the difference between a writer's block and procrastination.

You can find more information on my Facebook page and Instagram account