India’s oldest highway, is 2400 km long, it passes through…, was built during…, not Mughals or Sher Shah Suri, not GT Road

New Delhi: The road connectivity in India has seen a massive transformation in last 10 years. Today, the national highway network has expanded massively, and the speed of construction has increased significantly. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) reports a 60 percent growth in the National Highway network, reaching 1,46,195 km by 2024. Moreover, the length of national highways with four or more lanes has more than doubled, and the pace of NH construction has increased by 143 percent.

The Nitin Gadkari-led Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, in a statement, said that India has achieved a remarkable milestone in infrastructure development, with its National Highway network expanding by 60 percent over the past decade.

India has achieved significant milestones in infrastructure development, including the inauguration of the world’s longest highway tunnel, the Atal Tunnel, and the construction of the world’s highest railway bridge, the Chenab Bridge. Additionally, India has set records by unveiling iconic landmarks like the Statue of Unity – the world’s tallest statue and embarked on transformative projects like the Zojila Tunnel, Asia’s longest tunnel, for all-weather connectivity in Ladakh.

Oldest highway in India:

The Grand Trunk Road is one of South Asia’s oldest and longest major roads. The road often called the

“Gernaili Sadak” (the Generals’ Road) and Sadak-e-Azam (‘The Grand Road’) covers a distance of over 2,500 kilometers (1,600 mi). During the British rule of colonial India, the road was renamed as the Grand Trunk Road.

Here are some of the key details of Grand Trunk Road:

  • Grand Trunk Road is the oldest highway in India, which is 2,400 kilometers long.
  • This highway was originally built during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya.
  • It was later paved in the 16th century by Sher Shah Suri.
  • The Grand Trunk Road is one of the oldest and longest routes in South Asia.
  • The road starts from Bangladesh and extends all the way to Kabul, Afghanistan.
  • Its name kept changing over time, and finally, the British named it ‘GT Road’, and since then, it has been known by this name.

The progress of national highways in India has been remarkable in the last 10 years, reflecting a significant increase in budget allocation and construction pace. Since 2014, there has been a 500% increase in the road transport and highway budget allocation, leading to a substantial enhancement in infrastructure development. The speed of highway construction reached an impressive 37 km/day in 2020-21, marking a record for the fastest highway construction in India.

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