To nurture development of future professionals, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has opened enrolment for the Winter Internship Programme 2026-27 and Term Internship Programme 2027. Scheduled from December 2026 to January 2027 and January to June 2027 respectively, the programmes aim to provide students with meaningful hands-on exposure within India's largest National Highway development ecosystem through live projects and assignments under the guidance of experienced NHAI professionals.

The ‘Winter Internship Programme’ will be conducted for one month duration from December 2026 till January 2027, whereas the six-month ‘Term Internship Programme’ will be held from January to June 2027. Keeping in view the variation in academic calendars across different institutions, students will have the flexibility to indicate their preferred internship duration within the prescribed internship period while submitting their applications through the Internship Portal.

541 internship positions have been identified under the Winter Internship Programme and 542 internship positions under the Term Internship Programme. Interns will be deployed across 125 ongoing National Highway projects as well as at various divisions of NHAI and the Indian Highways Management Company Limited (IHMCL). Selected interns will work under the supervision of NHAI officials and gain practical exposure to planning, construction, operation, maintenance, asset management, road safety, legal, finance, media and other functional areas pertaining to National Highway sector.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible candidates include final-year and pre-final-year undergraduate and postgraduate students pursuing full-time courses from recognised Universities and Institutions in India or abroad in disciplines such as Civil Engineering, Information Technology, Computer Science & Engineering, Electronics & Communication Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Instrumentation Engineering, Data Science/Artificial Intelligence and related disciplines, BA LLB/Law, Mass Communication/Journalism, Rajbhasha, M.A. in HR/Industrial Relations & Personnel Management and MBA (HR/Finance/Marketing or equivalent).

Eligible institutes have been identified on the basis of NIRF rankings and other recognised academic benchmarks. To encourage participation from premier technical institutions, IITs and NITs, 100 seats have been reserved for students from IITs and 150 seats for students from NITs. Selected interns will receive a stipend of Rs. 20,000 per month in accordance with the provisions of the NHAI Internship Policy, along with a certificate upon successful completion of the internship.

Application Process

The application process will be carried out through the dedicated NHAI Internship Portal https://internshipsatnhai.digitalindiacorporation.in/. The portal facilitates online submission of applications, verification by institutes, selection by NHAI and complete internship lifecycle management. Students are required to submit their applications online along with academic details and indicate their preferred internship duration and preferences for project locations where applicable. Institutes will verify and recommend eligible applications through the portal, and only institute-approved applications will be considered for selection by NHAI. Final allocation of interns to projects will be undertaken by NHAI based on merit, preferences and availability.

Application Deadline

Interested students may submit their applications through the NHAI Internship Portal by 20^th October 2026. Accordingly, the recommendation by institutes will be completed by 10^th November 2026. Detailed eligibility criteria, application guidelines and project-related information will be available on the NHAI Internship Portal:

Strengthening Industry-Academia Collaboration

The earlier internship programmes received an overwhelming response both from the students and academic institutions. To further strengthen industry-academia collaboration, NHAI has requested Universities and Institutions to widely disseminate information regarding the internship programmes among eligible students, facilitate timely submission of applications and nominate faculty coordinators to support the internship process and serve as a point of contact.

Building upon this, NHAI Winter Internship Programme 2026-27 and Term Internship Programme 2027 will further strengthen skill development and capacity building by providing students with valuable practical experience in India's rapidly expanding National Highway sector.

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GDH/DS