NHAI releases first National Highways Green Cover Index 2025-26.
Photo Credit: The Suncity News
New Delhi, March 9, 2026: With the aim of providing a scientific and quantitative assessment of plantations along National Highways, NHAI has released the first-ever Annual report on the National Highways Green Cover Index (NH-GCI) 2025-26.
The report has been prepared in collaboration with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of the India Space Research Organization (ISRO).
The initiative aims to provide a technology-driven and objective assessment of green cover within the Right of Way (RoW) along the National Highways network using advanced space-based technologies.
NHAI’s satellite-based assessment:
The NH-GCI assessment is derived from chlorophyll content detected through high-resolution satellite sensors, allowing authorities to measure vegetation presence along both sides of highways.
The index is reported as a percentage value, indicating the proportion of land covered by green vegetation within the RoW of National Highways, measured at a granularity of one kilometer.
Coverage of the first assessment cycle:
In its first assessment cycle, the study covered around 30,000 kilometers of National Highways across 24 states for the period July to December 2024.
Future annual reports will monitor year-on-year changes in green cover, helping authorities track improvements in plantation and environmental management along the highways.
Collaboration between NHAI and ISRO:
The initiative is part of a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in January 2024 between NHAI and NRSC-ISRO.
This approach provides a reliable, cost-effective, and time-efficient method for large-scale estimation of green cover along highways.
The findings will help authorities compare green cover across highway stretches, rank regions based on vegetation coverage, and plan targeted interventions to improve plantation management.
The NH-GCI initiative reflects NHAI’s commitment to environmental sustainability and the green transformation of India’s highway network.
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EOM.
