NHAI Internship Program and Digital Portal Launched to Build Future-ready Infrastructure Workforce

Each project will host up to four interns, creating an initial cohort of nearly 600 students from premier institutions including IITs, NITs, and AICTE-affiliated colleges.

In a landmark move to bridge classroom learning with large-scale infrastructure execution, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), in collaboration with the Department of Higher Education, Government of India, has launched the NHAI Internship Program, a first-of-its-kind national initiative designed to cultivate future-ready professionals for India’s highway development ecosystem.

The program was formally launched by Shri Vineet Joshi, Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, and Shri Santosh Kumar Yadav, Chairman, NHAI, in the presence of senior officials from NHAI, the Ministry of Education, and AICTE.

A Digital Gateway to India’s Largest Infrastructure Classroom

To ensure transparency, scale, and nationwide accessibility, NHAI has simultaneously unveiled a dedicated Internship Portal—an integrated digital platform offering structured internship opportunities across 150+ major National Highway projects spread across the country.

Each project will host up to four interns, creating an initial cohort of nearly 600 students from premier institutions including IITs, NITs, and AICTE-affiliated colleges. The portal supports one-month, two-month, and six-month internship tracks, aligned with diverse academic calendars and industry exposure requirements.

All selected interns will receive a monthly stipend of ₹20,000, enabling mobility, field engagement, and professional development while working on live national infrastructure projects.

Aligned With NEP 2020: From Observation to Execution

The program is closely aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasizes experiential learning, industry exposure, flexible curricula, and credit-linked internships, especially during the final year of undergraduate education.

Unlike traditional observational internships, the NHAI Internship Program is designed for active participation. Interns will gain hands-on exposure to:

• Highway planning and design

• Construction and project execution

• Contract management and quality control

• Technology-driven monitoring and implementation

This immersive approach offers students rare, real-world insights into how India’s national highways are conceptualized, engineered, and delivered at scale.

Beyond Civil Engineering: Opening Doors to Digital Infrastructure Roles

While Civil Engineering students form the core focus, the program also extends opportunities to students from IT, Electronics, and Electrical Engineering backgrounds—particularly in emerging domains such as:

• Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS)

• Electronic Toll Collection and ITS solutions

• Digital monitoring and smart mobility infrastructure

This reflects NHAI’s growing shift toward technology-enabled highways and intelligent transport systems.

Strong Early Momentum and National Interest

The initiative has already demonstrated strong traction:

• The Winter Internship phase attracted around 250 students

• The newly introduced six-month final-year undergraduate internship, commencing 19 January 2026, has received nearly 500 applications

• Plans are underway to extend the program to postgraduate students in the near future

Why This Matters: Building India’s Infrastructure Talent Pipeline

As India accelerates investment in roads, logistics, and smart mobility, the demand for industry-ready engineers and technologists is rising sharply. The NHAI Internship Program positions national infrastructure projects as living laboratories, creating a robust talent pipeline aligned with India’s long-term development goals.

Call to Action: Apply, Partner, and Build at Scale

Engineering students, academic institutions, and skill-development stakeholders are encouraged to explore and engage with the NHAI Internship Portal to be part of India’s infrastructure transformation journey.

For students, this is an opportunity to learn directly on the ground, contribute to nationally significant projects, and build career-defining experience.For institutions and technology partners, it opens avenues for collaboration, curriculum integration, and workforce co-development.

With this initiative, NHAI signals a clear shift—from building roads alone to building the people who will shape India’s infrastructure future.