The Digital wave is overtaking each and every aspect and sector in the world and it has also changed the way how the industries across the globe use to function. This is the era of digital innovations, it has become crucial for the Indian Highways sector also to cope up with the completion and transform. The developed countries have already moved towards the ‘smart roads’ or ‘smart highways’ with the efficient and effective use of Information Technology, which are anticipated to be heavily automated, interactive and enabled with the dynamic systems that are able to self-power. Indian Highways Network is the lifeline of our country’s trade, transportation and travel, therefore this concept of ‘smart highways’ holds a lot of potential here. Considered to be the second largest road network in the world, our network can be leveraged in a lot better way than its current state. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, under the leadership of Honourable Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari, along with its autonomous agency National Highway Authority of India is working with extreme determination to achieve the same. The innovation and effective implementation of the technologies are helping in yielding the most significant improvements in the highway commute experience. Few of the initiatives taken by the NHAI to redesign the Indian Highways, under the supervision of NHAI’s Chief General Manager (IT & Highway Operations) Akhilesh Srivastava, are: • Incorporation of RFID-enabled Electronic Toll Collection system aka FASTag • Pilot on GPS-enabled tolling system between the Delhi-Mumbai corridor • Implementation of Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) on NHs • Implementation of Advanced Emergency Incident Management System on NHs • Wayside Amenities Mega-project • Record target for the construction of 10,000 km of NHs in this financial year • Hitech monitoring/planning, operations and maintenance of NHs For the efficient management of the facilities available on the highways and assets, in NHAI has created a new division called the Highway Operation Division; it also focuses on all non-commercial operational activities. This Division is headed by the CGM (IT & Highway Operations) Shri Akhilesh Srivastava, and he is in-charge for the effective implementation of electronic tolling, wayside amenities, road safety and security, traffic management, other modern amenities like Wi-Fi on the national highways. The division also takes care of the ambulances and cranes tracking on the highways and also the plantation, lighting and sanitation on the Highways. With the effectual implementation of all these, India will soon succeed in creating the ‘smart highways’ where the vehicles will be able to communicate with the roads they run on. This is not only easing the stress commuters’ face while travelling on the highways but also helping in creating safer road and reducing air pollution. The cameras, sensors, GPS embedded technology is helping our roads to detect congestion, traffic blockage and more in real-time. The solar energy-enabled highway lighting is a smart solution to save and channelize the energy. The same has been earlier implemented in Japan and Israel and have received enormous success. In a quest to improve the commuters’ safety on the highways, the NHAI has taken a lot of serious initiatives, and hence they have come up with a very efficient incident management system. NHAI Chairman, Shri Deepak Kumar said, “around 1.5 lakh people die on Indian roads every year. NHAI wants to target on saving lives in the golden hour.” Due to this system, NHAI will not be able to save the crucial lives of Indian citizens but also be able to manage the traffic and bottle-necks on highways. The world has already started talking about the self-driving automobiles and the NHAI is working with full determination to match up the pace of these world developments. All these NHAI initiatives will define the road-traffic landscape of the country. The country’s administration is already working to create Smart Cities as part of the urban infrastructure and the development of Smart Highways/Roads will quickly elevate the former. With the permanent solutions for traffic congestions, carbon emissions, and reduced accidents India will soon touch the new heights in terms of developing the top-notch infrastructure. These smart highways will play a crucial link in improving the overall landscape of the country.