NHAI’s Wayside Amenities Mega-Plan on National Highways

India ranks second in the world in terms of road network connectivity, where 15-crore commuters take their journey through national highways each day. People spend ten minutes of their time on an average at each Toll plaza. Passengers who travel through highways face difficulties in terms of basic amenities. Also, the death rates due to road accidents have increased drastically.
To mitigate these issues, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), through the NHAI, has launched the Wayside Amenities program to improve the availability of civic amenities on Indian National Highways.
As a part of this, NHAI is building three structures to provide basic, moderate and advanced amenities to commuters. These facilities include branded restaurants, ATMs, fuel stations, kiosks to sell basic sundry items, eatery, restrooms, parking lots, helipads, village haat and more.
The NHAI under the supervision of the eminent officer Shri Akhilesh Srivastava, Chief General Manager (IT and Highway operations), has proposed the mega-plan of developing world-class roadside amenities along the National Highways through three sub-structures.

Highway Nest (Mini)

Highway Nest (Mini) will provide basic civic amenities such as drinking water, ATMs, restrooms, kiosks for eatery and parking facilities near Toll Plazas.
On 26th January 2018, NHAI has inaugurated more than 50 Highway Nest (Mini) kiosks across India and they are continuously working to expand it to all the Toll Plazas.
The facilities available at these Highway Nest (Mini) kiosks are drinking water, ATM, tea/coffee vending machine, toilets. parking for a short stay, packaged food and litter bins.

Highway Village

Highway Village is the second sub-structure of wayside amenities mega-project which is proposed to be constructed across 183 sites in the country. They will be built in the land area of five acres or more.
Highway Village will be developed through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. It will cater civic facilities on a larger scale than Highway Nest and Highway Nest (Mini). These facilities will include branded restaurants, eateries, dhabas, ATMs, fuel stations, kiosks to sell basic sundry items, eatery, restrooms, parking lots, helipads, village haat, local handloom shop, helipad and more.

Highway Nest

Highway Nest is a smaller version of the Highway Village and it will be built them in the land are of two to five acres.  The NHAI has proposed to develop Highway Next at 1000 different places across India along the highways on private land by the private parties. The NHAI's role here will be to provide help to these private individuals in turning their lands from agricultural to commercial and other construction-related permissions. The facilities in Highway Nest will include eateries, dhabas, ATMs, fuel station, kiosks to sell basic sundry items, toilets, dormitories, parking lots, and more.
With these projects, NHAI’s mega-plan is all set to revolutionise the way commuters travel on highways, paving the way for the modernisation of the country’s infrastructure.