As India builds its national highway network at an unprecedented pace, attention is increasingly turning toward construction quality, safety and long-term reliability. In line with this shift, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has launched a pilot initiative to closely monitor construction quality on National Highways through the deployment of Mobile Quality Control Vans.
The pilot project has been implemented across Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka and Odisha, with the objective of enabling faster identification of quality issues during ongoing highway construction works.
Each Mobile Quality Control Van operates as a fully equipped, mobile laboratory capable of conducting on-site assessments without disrupting construction activity. The vans are fitted with advanced non-destructive testing instruments that allow engineers to evaluate material strength, structural integrity and safety parameters directly at the project location. Using tools such as ultrasonic pulse velocity meters, rebound hammers, asphalt density gauges, light-weight deflectometers and reflectometers, inspectors are able to detect internal defects in concrete, assess pavement compaction, verify sub-base stability and ensure adequate visibility of road signage and markings.
By bringing testing capabilities directly to construction sites, the system shifts quality control from a reactive process to a proactive one, allowing potential deficiencies to be identified and addressed at an early stage. Test results generated by the vans are shared with MoRTH field offices, enabling timely corrective action wherever quality concerns are observed.
As the pilot progresses, MoRTH is developing a National Highway Quality Monitoring Portal to support data-driven oversight. The portal will make test reports generated by the Mobile Quality Control Vans available online and provide real-time GPS tracking of the vehicles, strengthening transparency and accountability across National Highway projects.
Building on the pilot’s implementation, the Ministry has planned the next phase of Mobile Quality Control Van deployment across additional states, including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam and Meghalaya. Tenders for the next phase have already been invited, and commissioning is expected by June 2026.
The initiative underscores MoRTH’s commitment to ensuring that India’s highways are not only built faster, but also constructed to consistent quality standards backed by technology, real-time monitoring and accountable execution.
