{
  "id": 13921628,
  "title": "Less-than-2-lane NH stretches shrink to 8%",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/12/less-than-2-lane-nh-stretches-shrink-to-8",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-12T08:39:34.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Economic Times",
    "slug": "the-economic-times",
    "url": "https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/roadways/less-than-8-of-indias-national-highways-are-now-narrower-than-two-lanes-high-speed-corridors-grow-12-times-as-government-plans-51000-km-of-faster-roads/articleshow/134886986.cms"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Now comprising just 8% of its 1.46 lakh km national highway network, the segment of roads narrower than two lanes has dwindled by 64% over the past nine years, shrinking to approximately 13,000 km, according to a TOI report. This shift is driven by the government's push towards building wider highways, high-speed corridors, and expressways to enhance road connectivity and streamline passenger and goods movement.\n\nThe length of high-speed corridors (HSCs) has surged more than twelvefold, while the network of national highways boasting four or more lanes has expanded by 1.5 times, the report revealed. Government officials highlight that highway development is increasingly focused on high-speed corridors, greenfield access-controlled roads, and expressways - routes equipped with at least four lanes designed to provide smoother journeys with fewer interruptions.\n\nDespite this expansion, Indian trucks still cover significantly less distance daily compared to their counterparts in other major economies. A typical Indian truck travels between 300-350 km a day, while in the US, this figure stands at 700-800 km, and in China, it is around 550-650 km. This disparity underscores the potential for enhancing freight movement through improved road infrastructure and more efficient routes.\n\nAccess-controlled highways, which restrict entry and exit to predetermined points, could aid trucks in maintaining consistent speeds by minimizing disruptions from local traffic and other road users. For instance, a comparison of two parallel routes between Ahmedabad and Vadodara revealed that trucks travelling on the Ahmedabad-Vadodara Expressway averaged around 80 kmph, whereas on the parallel NH-64, they averaged approximately 52 kmph. Daily truck traffic on the expressway was also nearly twice that on the existing national highway.\n\nThe government aims to develop around 51,000 km of high-speed corridors over the next decade, potentially including projects spearheaded by both the Centre and state governments. This expansion is expected to further shift towards wider, access-controlled roads across the country. However, the government's efforts to boost freight efficiency will also hinge on how effectively these corridors connect with existing highways, industrial hubs, and logistics infrastructure.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}