NHAI Careers: National Highways Authority of India

An act of Parliament set up the National Highway Authority of India, NHAI Act, 1988, “An Act to provide for the constitution of an Authority for the development, maintenance and management of national highways and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto”. It has been entrusted with the National Highways Development Project, which, along with other minor projects, has vested in it 50329 kms of National Highways for development, maintenance, and management. Our objective is to ensure that all contract awards and procurements conform to the best industry practices about transparency of process, adoption of bid criteria to ensure healthy competition in award of contracts, implementation of projects conform to best quality requirements, and the highway system is maintained to ensure best user comfort and convenience.

National Highways are the country’s arterial roads for the interstate movement of passengers and goods. They traverse the length and width of the country, connecting the National and State capitals, major ports, and rail junctions, and link up with border roads and foreign highways. The total length of NH (including expressways) in the country at present is 1,32,499 kms. While Highways/Expressways constitute only about 1.7% of the length of all roads, they carry about 40% of the road traffic.

NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) Projects

The NHAI implements various projects. It also has the mandate to implement the National Highways Development Project (NHDP). Apart from this, it also helps in implementing the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North Eastern Region (SARDP-NE), a project to upgrade National Highways connecting state capitals to 2 lanes or 4 lanes in the north-eastern region.

Some other projects by the NHAI are:

Golden Quadrilateral

A highway network connecting many of the major industrial, agricultural, and cultural centres of India, the Golden Quadrilateral connects cities like Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, and Mumbai, and hence its name. Launched in 2001 by Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee, it is the largest highway project in India and the fifth longest in the world was and was completed in 2012. It is part of the first phase of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP).

North–South and East–West Corridor

The North–South and East–West Corridor is part of the second phase of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) and connects Srinagar in the north to Kanyakumari in the south, Porbandar in the west, and Silchar in the east.

National-Green-Highway-Mission

In 2015 the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Government of India promulgated the Green Highways (Plantations, Transplantations, Beautification, and Maintenance) Policy to develop green corridors along National Highways for a sustainable environment and inclusive growth. The policy aims to develop eco-friendly National Highways with the participation of the communities, farmers, NGOs, private sector, institutions, government agencies and the Forest Departments for economic growth and development in a sustainable manner.”

The roadside plantations have a huge potential to enhance the green cover of the nation and thus generate employment opportunities for the rural community. The Green Highways Division – under the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been given the task of planning, implementing, and monitoring roadside plantations along one lakh km network of National Highways, which would, in turn, generate one lakh direct employment opportunities in the plantations sector in next ten years. For effective project planning, implementation and monitoring, GHD has developed Guidelines and Vision Document.

NHAI Recruitment*

Every year, NHAI releases a notification for the vacancies of various posts which are both technical and non-technical.  In this article, we will be discussing the NHAI recruitment along with the cut-off and any necessary information that is one need to know before applying for NHAI.

1. Deputy Manager (civil)

• Age limit: The candidate applying for the post must not be more than 30 years of age. There is however, age relaxation for various category students based on the central government notification.
• Educational Qualification: The candidate applying must have a Degree in Civil Engineering from a recognized University / Institute.
• Selection procedure: The selection Procedure for the post of Deputy Manager in NHAI is through direct recruitment based on a valid Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) Score in the Civil Engineering discipline.

After the GATE score the candidates will be shortlisted for a group discussion and interview. Once shortlisted for the interview, the candidates will be required to furnish attested copies of their, GATE score card and, GATE Admit Card.

To apply for the post of Deputy Manager in NHAI, one must follow the above-given conditions. However, these are just the minimum qualifications required. Based on the number of vacancies and other factors, only shortlisted candidates are called for the interview.

Pay Scale: For the candidates joining the post of Deputy Manager, the pay scale will be: Rs.15, 600-39,100/- + Grade Pay of Rs. 5400/-

Deputy Manager (Information Technology)

Age limit: The candidate applying for the post must not be more than 30 years of age. There is, however age relaxation for various category students based on the central government notification.

Educational Qualification: The candidate applying must have a Degree in Computer from a recognized University / Institute. Some experience is also required for certain qualification. The qualification along with the experience is mentioned below:

Educational Qualification	Job experience
BE / B Tech. in Computer Science/ Information Technology or specialized equivalent qualification from a recognized University/ from a institute of repute / C level certification course from DOEACC.
Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering / Technology (any discipline) / Science AND MBA (Information System/ Information Technology) / Advance or Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Applications/ Advanced Computing/ Mobile Computing/ IT Infrastructure, System and Security/ Cyber Security / Embedded Systems and Design/ System Software Development/ Big Data Analytics/ Automation SCADA (Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition) Systems/Multimedia or any related field etc
M.Sc. in Computer Science / Information Technology / Multimedia etc.	1 Year
MCA / B Level certification course from DOEACC with B.Sc. (Mathematics as a subject)	2 Year
B.Sc. (Computer Science / Information Technology / Multimedia) / BCA or Equivalent from a recognized university/from a institute of repute / A level certification course from DOEACC	3 Year

Selection procedure: The selection Procedure for the post of Deputy Manager (IT) in NHAI is by direct recruitment from candidates possessing the qualifications and experience, or from candidates holding core IT-related posts in a Central/State Govt. Deptt/Autonomous Body/PSU/Private or Public Commercial IT organization of repute. Direct recruitment will be through open advertisement and will have written tests, practical tests, and an interview with applicable reservation criteria as per GOI rules, and will have a probation of one year.

NHAI Cut Off:

The NHAI cut-off is released every year based on the number of vacancies, the GATE Examination, and the marks scored by candidates applying for the post.

Pay Scale: For the candidates joining the post of Deputy Manager, the pay scale will be: PB-3, Rs.15600-39100 plus Grade Pay of Rs.5400/

Site Engineer

Age limit: The candidate applying for the post must not be more than 30 years or 32 years of age, based on the location of the Site Engineer. There is, however age relaxation for various category students based on the central government notification.

Educational Qualification: The candidate applying must have done B.E./B.Tech. Degree in Civil Engineering with a minimum of one year of experience.

Selection procedure: In case large numbers of applications are received, the selection Procedure for the post of Site Engineer will be a written test or an interview. The written test will be based on the syllabus of the civil engineering course.

Pay Scale: For the candidates joining the post of Site Engineer, the salary is Rs. 50,000 per month.

Job profile: The Deputy Manager is a grade A post and is equivalent to the DPM post of most of the PSUs. As a deputy manager, the candidates are posted at the Project Implementation Unit (PIU).  Both the project technical consultant and contractor both have to work under the Deputy Manager, who sometimes also has to coordinate with state government officials to arrange statutory approvals. The job profile of a Deputy Manager is predominantly managerial. National Highways Authority of India is best organisation as far as civil engineering is concerned in terms of job satisfaction and job location.

Young Professional (Legal)

Age limit: The candidate applying for the post must not be more than 32 years of age. There is, however, age relaxation for various category students based on the central government notification.

• Educational Qualification: The candidate applying must have:
• Degree in LAW from a recognised University / National Law School/Institute
• Common-Law Admission Test (CLAT), 2018 (Post Graduate) Score
• Experience: Candidates having experience in the field of law related to contractual matters/ arbitration/ legislative matters/ land acquisition will get preference.
• Selection procedure: In case large numbers of applications are received, the selection Procedure is based on the merit in Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), (Post Graduate) Score, and experience
• Pay Scale: For the candidates joining the post of Young Professional, the salary is Rs 60,000 per month. The consolidated salary will be increased @ 5% for each succeeding year, subject to satisfactory performance.

Period of Contract:

The period of engagement may be for a period of up to two years in the first instance, which may be further extended by one more year, based on the requirements of the NHAI and the satisfactory performance of the incumbent. In case a person leaves before the completion of one year, he/she will not get any work certificate.

Final Thoughts

At last, we can say that the National Highways Authority of India plays a pivotal role in strengthening India’s road infrastructure and driving sustainable economic growth. With its wide range of flagship projects and transparent, merit-based recruitment process, NHAI offers promising career opportunities for professionals from technical, IT, and legal backgrounds. A career with NHAI not only provides financial stability and growth but also the chance to contribute directly to nation-building through the development and maintenance of critical highway networks.

NHAI Recruitment for Civil Engineers