The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has released the first annual report on the National Highways Green Cover Index (NH-GCI) for 2025-26, providing a scientific assessment of vegetation along the country’s highway network.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on Monday, 9 March, the report has been prepared in coordination with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
The NH-GCI initiative aims to provide a quantitative assessment of green cover within the Right of Way (RoW) along National Highways using advanced space-based technologies.
The ministry said the assessment is derived from chlorophyll content detected through high-resolution satellite sensors, enabling an objective and technology-driven measurement of vegetation along both sides of the highways.
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NH-GCI is reported as a percentage value representing the proportion of land covered by vegetation within the RoW of National Highways, measured at a granularity of one kilometre.
In the first assessment cycle, about 30,000 Km of National Highways across 24 states were analysed for the period July to December 2024.
The ministry said future annual cycles of the index will track year-on-year changes in green cover.
The initiative is being implemented under a three-year Memorandum of Understanding signed in January 2024 between NHAI and the National Remote Sensing Centre of ISRO.
The ministry said the satellite-based approach offers a reliable, cost-effective and time-efficient mechanism for macro-level estimation of green cover along highways.
The findings will enable comparison, ranking, and targeted interventions for improved plantation management along the National Highway network.
The ministry said that the NH-GCI initiative reflects NHAI’s strong commitment to enhancing environmental sustainability and advancing the green transformation of the National Highway network.
