NHAI Releases First National Highways Green Cover Index Report 2025–26 to Track Highway Plantation

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has released the first Annual Report on the National Highways Green Cover Index (NH-GCI) 2025–26 to provide a scientific assessment of plantations along India’s national highways. The report was prepared in coordination with the National Remote Sensing Centre of Indian Space Research Organisation.

The NH-GCI uses satellite-based technology to measure vegetation cover within the Right of Way (RoW) along national highways. The index is derived from chlorophyll levels detected through high-resolution satellite sensors and is expressed as a percentage representing the extent of green cover along both sides of highways at a one-kilometre interval.

The first assessment covers around 30,000 km of national highways across 24 states for the period July to December 2024. Future annual assessments will track year-on-year changes in green cover to support improved plantation management and sustainability initiatives.

The initiative is being implemented under a three-year Memorandum of Understanding signed in January 2024 between NHAI and NRSC. The report aims to enable data-driven monitoring, comparison and targeted interventions to enhance green cover along India’s highway network.