In directives issued to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Border Roads Organisation (BRO), state governments and state Public Works Departments (PWDs) the central government has directed that all future national highways must be made least two-and-a-half lanes. About a fourth of the national highways in the country are single laned at present. As per the government plan about 18,350km of single laned highways will be converted to two lanes over a period of five years. Also the new roads are required to have minimum quality standards in terms of service level and safety considerations.
