As India focuses on infrastructure-led growth, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) plays a crucial role in connecting engineering education with professional opportunities in the national highway sector. This has sparked renewed interest in engineering, especially among aspiring engineers. Civil Engineering is becoming a favored career choice, notably in prestigious institutions like IITs and NITs, according to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
NHAI annually hires about 100 engineering professionals through the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) for technical roles. The ministry highlighted that graduates from esteemed institutions like IITs and NITs are eligible for positions like Deputy Manager, indicating a growing trend among top engineering graduates to pursue careers in National Highway infrastructure development. In a bid to enhance collaboration between industry and academia, NHAI introduced a structured Internship Programme, starting with a Winter Internship for Civil Engineering students, followed by a more extensive Term Internship.
With a monthly stipend of Rs. 20,000, NHAI’s Internship Programme has become a sought-after experiential learning opportunity for aspiring engineers in the country. The Summer Internship Programme in 2026 saw 423 student interns from various disciplines joining NHAI field offices and verticals at NHAI Headquarters. Notably, premier technical institutions like IITs and NITs actively participated, showcasing the increasing interest of young engineers in careers linked to India’s National Highway development initiatives. NHAI has also implemented reforms to bolster the professional environment for civil engineers, including the adoption of fixed-cost Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) to ensure equitable compensation for engineering services.
