NHAI Releases 1st National Highways Green Cover Index 2025–26 | 10 Mar 2026

Source: PIB 

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has released a first-of-its-kind Annual Report on the National Highways Green Cover Index (NH-GCI) 2025–26, prepared with ISRO's National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC). 

Green Cover Index 

• About: GCI represents the percentage of land within each 1 km segment covered by green canopy. High-resolution satellite sensors measure chlorophyll content to objectively assess vegetation on the left and right sides of the highways. 
• Technology & Data Used: It employs space-based technologies to provide a scientific, quantitative assessment of green cover within the right-of-way along National Highways. It utilizes 5-meter resolution multispectral data from ISRO’s Resourcesat-2/2A (LISS-IV) satellite. To enhance accuracy, these are cross-verified with even finer-resolution Cartosat-2S imagery. 
  • Results are published on NRSC’s open-source Bhuvan web GIS portal, providing interactive maps and standardized reports.  
• Coverage & Scope: Currently, the project monitors approximately 30,000 km of National Highways across 24 states, specifically those under the Operation & Maintenance (O&M) phase.  
• Policy Linkage: The project is a direct implementation of India’s Green Highways Policy, 2015, which mandates NHAI not only to plant trees but also to ensure their survival. 
• Future Scope & Enhancements: Planned upgrades include the use of machine learning for auto-classification, change-detection alerts for vegetation loss, and integration with carbon sequestration models to support sustainable infrastructure planning.