The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has set up a dedicated Artificial Intelligence (AI) cell to boost efficiency, speed up decision-making, and drive innovation in road construction.

The new division will focus on quality control, sustainable practices, and advanced planning tools to optimise highway design, cut delays, and reduce the carbon footprint of projects, marking a significant step in the government’s push for tech-driven infrastructure development.

The move is part of NHAI’s larger push towards integrating technology in infrastructure development to meet growing demands for sustainable and faster execution of national highway projects.

By harnessing AI, the authority expects to streamline processes, cut delays and adopt greener alternatives in road building, making infrastructure development both efficient and environmentally responsible.

To make the newly set-up AI division functional and to improve its capacity, the Authority has planned to recruit experts to assist and advise the Cell. Three officers have already been attached to the unit.

According to the officials, the Cell will be useful in planning and design optimisation as it can stimulate traffic flow, weather impact and material performance to choose the most efficient designs.

Any procurement having an AI component by any division of NHAI will be vetted by the newly established Cell for technical inputs, and it will also help in capacity building; holding workshops.

One of the other responsibilities of the Cell is to curate high-value data.

As per the note, prepared by the Authority, on the indicative functions of the Cell, AI will process satellite and drone imagery to identify the best alignments, avoiding costly land acquisition or environmental damage.

“AI-based scheduling tools predict delays and suggest faster construction sequences. Cost estimation algorithms analyse past projects to forecast budgets more accurately. AI helps decide where to deploy manpower, machinery, and materials to reduce waste,” read the note.

The Government has set the target of constructing 10,000 km of highways in the ongoing financial year. During the recently concluded Parliament session, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari informed Lok Sabha that 1,240 national highways projects in 29,406 km, costing Rs 7.80 lakh crore, are currently under construction in the country, of which 15,674 km have been completed.

These projects are under various stages of construction and are scheduled for completion in a phased manner by the financial year 2028-29. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is primarily responsible for the development and maintenance of National Highways (NHs) and Expressways.