NEW DELHI Januray 09,2026— In a major move to bridge the gap between academic learning and industry requirements, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), in collaboration with the Department of Higher Education, has officially launched the NHAI Internship Program. This initiative, inaugurated by Secretary of Higher Education Vineet Joshi and NHAI Chairman Santosh Kumar Yadav, aims to provide aspiring professionals with hands-on experience within India’s vast highway development ecosystem. To ensure transparency and ease of access, NHAI has introduced a dedicated internship portal that centralizes opportunities across more than 150 major National Highway projects nationwide.
Under this new framework, each designated project will accommodate up to four interns, creating an initial capacity for nearly 600 students from premier institutions such as IITs, NITs, and AICTE-affiliated colleges. The program offers flexible durations of one, two, and six months to align with various academic cycles. To support the professional growth and mobility of these students, all selected interns will receive a monthly stipend of ₹20,000. This structured approach is designed to go beyond simple observation, allowing participants to engage actively in the technical and managerial complexities of highway planning and engineering.
The program is deeply rooted in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which prioritizes experiential learning and industry exposure to boost employability. While the core focus remains on Civil Engineering, the initiative also opens doors for students in IT, Electronics, and Electrical Engineering to work on cutting-edge technologies like Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS) and Electronic Toll Collection (ETC). This interdisciplinary approach ensures that the future workforce is equipped to handle the increasingly digital nature of infrastructure management.
The initiative has already seen significant traction, with a “Winter Internship” phase attracting 250 participants. Looking ahead, a specialized six-month internship for final-year undergraduate engineering students is scheduled to begin on January 19, 2026, for which approximately 500 applications have already been received. NHAI has also confirmed plans to extend these opportunities to post-graduate students in the near future. By fostering this robust talent ecosystem, NHAI continues to invest in the next generation of professionals essential for the country’s long-term infrastructure development.
