NH 48
Delhi–Chennai Highway
Also known as National Highway 8 (Delhi–Mumbai, old numbering), National Highway 4 (Mumbai–Bengaluru–Chennai, old numbering) and Includes the former NH 46 (Krishnagiri–Ranipet)
2,807 km
Open
7 states
National Highway
Route
NH 48 runs 2,807 km from Delhi to Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Crosses Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Through Delhi, Gurugram, Jaipur, Ajmer, Udaipur, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru and Chennai.
Why it matters
NH 48 is the money road of the Indian highway network. It strings together Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru and Chennai — the ports, factories and IT hubs that produce a huge share of India's exports — so it carries more container and truck traffic than almost any other route. It is also a daily commuter road for millions: for people going into Gurugram, into Mumbai from Thane, into Pune, and into Chennai from Sriperumbudur.
History
NH 48 links Delhi and Chennai the long way round, sweeping down India's west coast and across the south through Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru. It was created in the 2010 renumbering by joining two of India's most famous roads: the old NH 8 from Delhi to Mumbai and the old NH 4 from Mumbai to Chennai. Together these form the western and southern sides of the Golden Quadrilateral, the four-sided network that connects India's four biggest metro cities. Both halves were among the very first stretches to be widened to four lanes when the Golden Quadrilateral began in 2001, and much of the route has since been taken to six lanes. The road begins in Delhi at Dhaula Kuan and finishes where it meets NH 16 on the edge of Chennai. Almost every big industrial belt in western and southern India — Gurugram, Bhiwadi, Vapi, Silvassa, Pune, Hosur, Sriperumbudur — grew up along it.
Good to know
- About 2,807 km long, passing through seven states and union territories.
- Carries two full sides of the Golden Quadrilateral: Delhi–Mumbai and Mumbai–Chennai.
- Connects four of India's largest cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai — plus Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Surat and Pune.
- The Delhi–Gurugram stretch is one of the busiest roads in India.
- Between Mumbai and Pune it is paralleled by the Mumbai–Pune Expressway, India's first six-lane concrete expressway.
- Inside Mumbai the highway runs as the Western Express Highway from Dahisar down to Bandra.
- It starts at Dhaula Kuan in Delhi and ends where it joins NH 16 near Chennai.
- The Kherki Daula toll plaza in Gurugram is one of the most-used toll plazas in the country.
Timeline
- 2001Four-laning of the Delhi–Mumbai and Mumbai–Chennai corridors begins under the Golden Quadrilateral project
- 2008The Delhi–Gurugram Expressway, a signal-free six- to eight-lane stretch out of Delhi, is completed
- 2010The old NH 8 and NH 4 are merged and renumbered as NH 48
- 2012Golden Quadrilateral programme declared substantially complete
Key junctions
- Dhaula Kuan, Delhi — the northern starting point of the highway
- Kherki Daula (Gurugram) — junction for the Dwarka Expressway; site of the well-known toll plaza
- Manesar — crossed by the Kundli–Manesar–Palwal (Western Peripheral) Expressway
- Jaipur (Ajmer Road) — the Jaipur Ring Road begins here
- Ahmedabad — meets NH 47 and the Ahmedabad–Vadodara Expressway
- Panvel — junction with NH 66 for the Konkan coast and with the Mumbai–Pune Expressway
- Bengaluru (Tumakuru Road) — meets the NICE Road peripheral corridor and NH 44
- Krishnagiri — NH 44 splits off south toward Salem and Madurai
- Sriperumbudur — eastern end of the Bengaluru–Chennai Expressway joins here
Engineering highlights
- Delhi–Gurugram Expressway — 27.7 km of signal-free six- to eight-lane highway with flyovers and underpasses, completed in January 2008
- Narmada bridge at Bharuch — the long cable-supported bridge that carries the highway over the Narmada in Gujarat
- New Katraj Tunnel — 1,223 m three-lane tunnel under the Katraj ghat just south of Pune, opened around 2010 with the Pune–Satara six-laning
- Khambatki Ghat — the steep, winding climb between Pune and Satara — long one of the worst bottlenecks on the route; a tunnel now carries traffic through the top of the hill
On the road
Nobody drives the whole thing in one go — think of it as several famous road trips joined end to end. Delhi to Jaipur is about five hours, Mumbai to Pune about three on the parallel expressway, and Bengaluru to Chennai six to seven. The Delhi–Gurugram section jams badly on weekday mornings and evenings, the Vapi–Mumbai stretch is slow because of heavy container traffic, and December–January fog can crawl the Delhi–Jaipur leg. Dhaba culture is strong on the Rajasthan and Gujarat sections, and the Karnataka–Tamil Nadu section has good, modern highway food courts. October to March is the pleasantest season overall.
What’s coming next
- The Delhi–Mumbai Expressway is being built as a faster parallel route and will take a large share of long-distance traffic off the Delhi–Jaipur–Ahmedabad–Mumbai stretch.
- The Bengaluru–Chennai Expressway (NE 7) will do the same for the Bengaluru–Chennai leg.
More details
- Lanes
- Mostly 4–6 lanes, divided carriageway