In order to encourage and promote healthy plantation practices along the National Highways, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) instituted the ‘Green Highways Excellence Awards’ to recognize best practices in National Highway landscaping & plantation management. The winners of the ‘Green Highways Excellence Awards 2026’ were announced across three categories that included Avenue Plantations, Median Plantations and Plantation in Land Parcels including clover leaves, interchange, toll plazas & service areas. For participation, the entries were opened to NHAI field offices, concessionaires, contractors, government agencies, NGOs and private agencies involved in plantation projects undertaken along the National Highway projects.

Announcing the Winners

Category- I: Avenue Plantations

1st Prize	Project: Six Laning of Chilakaluripet Bypass on NH 16 in Andhra Pradesh, Under RO-Vijayawada
2nd Prize	Project: Eight Lane Vadodara - Kim Expressway, Padra to Vadodara Section of Vadodara - Mumbai Expressway in Gujarat Under RO-Gandhinagar
3rd Prize	Project: Gagariya-Bakhasar section of NH-925 and Satta- Gandhav section of NH-925A, Under RO-Jaipur
Consolation prize	Project: Annual Maintenance including Incident Management of Trichy - Karaikudi section of NH-210, NH- 336, 36 & 536, including Trichy Bypass, Under RO-Madurai

 

Category II: Median Plantations:

1st Prize	Project: Four laning of Hyderabad -Yadgiri section of NH 163 km, Under RO-Hyderabad
2nd Prize	Project: Eight Lane Vadodara - Kim Expressway, Sanpa to Padra Section of Vadodara - Mumbai Expressway in Gujarat Under RO-Gandhinagar
3rd Prize	Project: Varanasi Ring Road, Pkg-I, Harahua to Sandaha section of NH-31, Under RO-UP East (Varanasi)

 

Category III: Plantation in Land Parcels:

1st Prize	Project: Jamtha Clover Leaf, Oxygen Bird Park on NH-44 under RO – Nagpur
2nd Prize	Project: Monetization of Public Funded operational National Highway Projects under Tolling. Operation, Maintenance and Transfer (ToT) Bundle-7, NE-lI - land parcels at Duhai Interchange, Under RO-Delhi
3rd Prize	Project: Lucknow-Ayodhya Road and Lucknow Outer Ring Road Intersection Junction - Miyawaki Plantation in Loop Areas, Under RO- UP West (Lucknow)

 

Nomination and assessment of entries

Award nominations were invited through the NHAI online portal. NHAI received an encouraging response to the NHAI Green Highways Excellence Awards with 86 nominations received from across the country. These comprised 27 nominations for Avenue Plantations, 36 for Median Plantations and 23 for Plantation in Land Parcels.   The nominations included presentations that were supported by geo-tagged photographs, drone videos, site-specific plantation plans and plantation survival-rate data.

Following initial screening, 15 nominations - five in each category were shortlisted for final assessment.  The evaluation was undertaken against a comprehensive assessment framework, with the survival rate of plantations carrying the highest weightage. Other parameters included site-specific plantation action plans, timing of plantation operations, size of pits, quality of planting material, protection measures, implementation as per approved design, species diversity, suitability and use of native species, Special emphasis was laid on quality, sustainability, effectiveness and potential for wider replication across the National Highway network.

The ‘Green Highways Excellence Awards’ was instituted in 2025 by NHAI, as mandated in the Green Highways Policy, 2015. The Awards reinforces NHAI’s commitment to integrating environmental sustainability with the development of the National Highway network across the country.

***

GDH/DS/HJ

(Release ID: 2306409) Visitor Counter : 444