New Delhi : The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has announced the winners of the Green Highways Excellence Awards 2026, recognising exemplary plantation and landscaping practices across National Highway projects. The awards aim to promote sustainable plantation practices and recognise excellence in highway landscaping and plantation management. This year, awards were presented in three categories: Avenue Plantations, Median Plantations and Plantation in Land Parcels, including clover leaves, interchanges, toll plazas and service areas.
Rajasthan project among top avenue plantation winners
The Gagariya-Bakhasar section of NH-925 and Satta-Gandhav section of NH-925A, under Regional Office Jaipur, secured the third prize in the Avenue Plantations category. The first prize in the category went to the six-laning project of Chilakaluripet Bypass on NH-16 in Andhra Pradesh under RO-Vijayawada. The eight-lane Vadodara-Kim Expressway, Padra to Vadodara section of the Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway in Gujarat, under RO-Gandhinagar, secured second prize. The Trichy-Karaikudi section, including Trichy Bypass, received the consolation prize.
Winners across three categories
In the Median Plantations category, the four-laning project of Hyderabad-Yadgiri section of NH-163 under RO-Hyderabad won first prize. The Vadodara-Kim Expressway’s Sanpa to Padra section secured second prize, while the Varanasi Ring Road Package-I under RO-UP East (Varanasi) won third prize.
In the Plantation in Land Parcels category, the Jamtha Clover Leaf Oxygen Bird Park on NH-44 under RO-Nagpur secured first prize. Land parcels at Duhai Interchange under RO-Delhi won second prize, while Miyawaki plantation in loop areas at the Lucknow-Ayodhya Road and Lucknow Outer Ring Road intersection secured third prize.
86 projects nominated
NHAI received 86 nominations from across the country through its online portal. These included 27 nominations for Avenue Plantations, 36 for Median Plantations and 23 for Plantation in Land Parcels.
Following the initial screening, 15 nominations, five from each category, were shortlisted for the final assessment. The entries were supported by geo-tagged photographs, drone videos, site-specific plantation plans and plantation survival-rate data.
Survival rate given highest weightage
The evaluation framework gave the highest weightage to plantation survival rate. Other parameters included plantation action plans, timing of plantation activities, pit size, quality of planting material, protection measures, compliance with approved designs, species diversity, suitability of species and the use of native plants. The assessment also focused on the quality, sustainability and effectiveness of plantation practices and their potential for replication across the National Highway network.
NHAI instituted the Green Highways Excellence Awards in 2025 under the Green Highways Policy, 2015. The authority said the awards reinforce its commitment to integrating environmental sustainability with the development of the National Highway network.