Best Road Tunnels in India: 13 Tunnels Worth the Drive

Most great Indian drives are remembered for what's on top: the pass, the switchbacks, the prayer flags. But over the last decade, a lot of the country's hardest roads have quietly moved underground. A tunnel now carries the Manali–Leh traffic under the Rohtang, two more take the Jammu–Srinagar highway through the Pir Panjal, and one lets Tawang stay open when snow buries the Sela Pass.

This guide covers the best road tunnels in India that you can drive through today, plus two big ones still being built. For each one we give the length, when it opened, what it bypasses and, where we have them, the TrailX routes that actually run through it, so you can open the map and see the whole drive, not just the tunnel.

How we picked and matched them

• Road tunnels only. Lists of "India's longest tunnels" often mix in railway tunnels and even sea bridges. Everything below is a road tunnel you can drive. The rail tunnels get a short note at the end.
• Lengths are approximate. Official figures, OpenStreetMap measurements and press reports often differ by a few hundred metres, depending on whether approach sections count. We give the commonly cited figure, rounded.
• TrailX routes are matched by GPS. A route is listed against a tunnel only if its track passes within 350 m of both portals and the stretch between them is about the tunnel's length. A route that runs over the pass above a tunnel doesn't count, and we say so where that's the case.

The tunnels at a glance

Himalayan tunnels

These are the tunnels that changed what's possible in the mountains. Each one replaces a pass or an avalanche-prone stretch that used to close for weeks or months every winter. For more on the passes above them, see our guide to the Himalayan passes of India.

1. Atal Tunnel, Himachal Pradesh

9.02 km · opened October 2020 · under the Rohtang Pass

Atal Tunnel runs under the Pir Panjal range from the Solang side of Manali to Sissu in Lahaul, at roughly 3,000 m. It's recognised as the longest highway tunnel above 10,000 ft in the world. Before it opened, Lahaul was cut off by snow on the Rohtang for months at a time. Now the drive from Manali to Keylong runs year-round on most days, and the Manali–Leh road is about 46 km shorter.

Five TrailX routes go through it. The Manali–Leh Highway is the classic: 433 km and more than 8,100 m of climbing, cresting about 5,300 m on Taglang La. The Spiti Valley Circuit uses the tunnel on its way back to Manali at the end of a 617 km loop through Kinnaur and Spiti. The Manali to Leh - Zanskar Route turns off at Darcha for the Shinku La and Padum.

Over or under: if you'd rather see the pass, the Rohtang Pass route climbs the old road to about 3,975 m. In season, vehicles going over the Rohtang need a permit; the tunnel doesn't.

2. Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Tunnel (Chenani–Nashri), Jammu & Kashmir

About 9 km · opened April 2017 · NH44 near Udhampur

India's longest road tunnel when it opened, the Chenani–Nashri tunnel takes the Jammu–Srinagar highway under the ridge at Patnitop. It cuts about 30 km and a lot of snowy, landslide-prone hairpins out of the drive. It has a main traffic tube and a parallel escape tube, joined by cross-passages, with ventilation, cameras and fire-fighting systems throughout.

The Padri Pass Trail uses it on the way to Bhaderwah and the Padri meadows, a 342 km off-road route into Chamba. The Hanges Boots Ladakh Circuit uses it too (more on that route below).

3. Banihal–Qazigund Tunnel, Jammu & Kashmir

8.45 km · opened August 2021 · NH44 under the Pir Panjal

This is the tunnel that takes you into the Kashmir Valley. Twin tubes, one in each direction, run from Banihal to Qazigund well below the old Banihal top, shaving roughly 16 km and over an hour off the drive. It's the reason the older Jawahar Tunnel above it now sees little traffic.

Of our routes, the Hanges Boots Ladakh Circuit goes through it on its way to Srinagar.

4. Jawahar Tunnel, Jammu & Kashmir

About 2.85 km · opened 1956 · old Jammu–Srinagar road

Before the new tunnels, this was the way into Kashmir. Built in the 1950s at around 2,200 m, Jawahar's twin bores replaced a crossing over the Banihal Pass that snow could close for days. It's narrow and dim by modern standards, and most traffic now uses the Banihal–Qazigund tunnel below. It belongs on this list as the place where Himalayan tunnelling in India started. Check locally whether it's open to your vehicle before you plan around it.

5. Z-Morh (Sonamarg) Tunnel, Jammu & Kashmir

About 6.5 km · opened January 2025 · Srinagar–Leh road

Z-Morh is named after the zig-zag road it replaces between Gagangir and Sonamarg, a stretch that avalanches used to close every winter. With the tunnel open, Sonamarg is reachable year-round. It's also the first half of the bigger plan: the Zojila tunnel, still being built further up the valley, will eventually take traffic under the pass to Ladakh.

The Srinagar–Leh Highway route goes through it: 434 km over Zoji La, Fotu La and Namika La to Leh. The Mushkoh Valley via Kaubal Gali expedition uses it in both directions.

6. Sela Tunnel, Arunachal Pradesh

About 1.6 km and 1 km · opened March 2024 · under the Sela Pass

The Sela project is two tunnels at about 13,000 ft on the only road to Tawang. The longer one has twin tubes, a traffic tube and an escape tube. They're short by the standards of this list, but they sit on one of India's most strategically important roads, below a pass that snow, fog and ice regularly close.

Our two routes here, Road to Tawang (524 km from Guwahati) and Sela Pass, both take the old road over the top. Their tracks top out at about 4,200 m near the pass instead of passing through the tunnel. That's worth knowing: in good weather the pass is the scenic choice, and the tunnel is your way through when it isn't.

Expressway and ghat tunnels

The Western Ghats and the hills of Rajasthan don't have the altitude, but they have monsoon landslides, fog and some of the busiest traffic in the country. These newer tunnels mostly replace ghat sections on major expressways.

7. Mumbai–Pune Missing Link, Maharashtra

About 8.9 km and 1.7 km · opened May 2026 · Mumbai–Pune Expressway

The Missing Link bypasses the Khandala ghat between Khopoli and Kusgaon, skipping the slowest, foggiest part of the expressway. Its long tunnel is one of the widest road tunnels in the world, at more than 20 m inside. Heavy-vehicle rules have been changing since it opened, so check before you plan a truck or bus route through it.

We don't have a route through it yet. Two nearby routes still use the old ghat road and the short Kamshet tunnels: the Rajmachi Off-Road Trail and the Pawna - Mulshi - Tamhini - Lonavala countryside loop.

8. Igatpuri Tunnel (Samruddhi Expressway), Maharashtra

About 7.8 km · opened June 2025 · Mumbai–Nagpur expressway

The last section of the Samruddhi Mahamarg opened with this tunnel, which takes the expressway under the Kasara ghat near Igatpuri. MSRDC puts its width at about 17.6 m. The ghat's 15-plus hairpins become a 7–8 minute drive. If you're heading for the lakes and forts around Igatpuri, the Bhandardara Arthur Lake Loop is a good half-day drive nearby.

9. Mukundra Tunnel, Rajasthan

About 4.9 km · opened to cars in 2026 · Delhi–Mumbai Expressway

The Mukundra tunnel carries the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway under the Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve near Kota. It was built as a tunnel so the expressway wouldn't cut the reserve in half. It's an eight-lane, twin-tube design, and it was the last big gap on the Delhi–Vadodara section. It opened to cars first, so check current vehicle rules before you plan around it.

10. Kuthiran Tunnel, Kerala

About 0.95 km, twin tubes · opened 2021–22 · NH544 Thrissur–Palakkad

Kerala's first road tunnel is short, but if you've driven between Thrissur and Palakkad you'll know why it matters. It replaced a steep, accident-prone stretch through the Peechi–Vazhani sanctuary hills. One tube opened in July 2021 and the other in January 2022.

Four TrailX routes go through it: Kochi to Palakkad NH544 Drive, Kochi to Coimbatore Highway Drive, Pollachi to Kochi Highway Drive and the Muvattupuzha to Coimbatore Motorcycle Ride. For more drives in the state, see scenic drives in Kerala.

City tunnels

Urban tunnels are about traffic, not scenery, but a few are engineering firsts worth knowing about.

11. Mumbai Coastal Road Tunnels, Maharashtra

2.07 km, twin tubes · opened in stages from 2024

These are India's first undersea road tunnels. They run from Priyadarshini Park to Girgaum Chowpatty, under Malabar Hill and part of the Arabian Sea, at up to about 70 m below the surface. They were bored by one of the largest tunnel boring machines used in India. The coastal road has its own rules on which vehicles may use it, so check before taking a motorcycle.

12. Dwarka Expressway Tunnel, Delhi–Gurugram

3.6 km · trial runs from mid-2025

This eight-lane tunnel takes the Delhi end of the Dwarka Expressway past Delhi airport. The government has called it India's longest and widest urban road tunnel. Two long TrailX routes go through it: Dwarka - Prayagraj Sangam, a flat 662 km run to the Sangam, and the Rajans Leh Route, 1,480 km from Delhi to Ladakh.

13. Pragati Maidan Tunnel, New Delhi

About 1.3 km · opened June 2022

This tunnel runs from Purana Qila Road to the Ring Road under the Pragati Maidan exhibition grounds and takes a lot of central Delhi traffic off the surface. Many long road trips out of Delhi start through it. Three of ours do: the Ganga Canal Road (Del-HW) to Haridwar, the 1,760 km Trans Uttarakhand - Shiva Trail, and the Delhi to Singapore - Asia Highway, which is 5,822 km long.

Coming next: Zojila and Shinku La

Two big Himalayan tunnels are still being built. Neither is open to traffic, so don't plan a trip that depends on them.

Zojila Tunnel (about 13.15 km). This tunnel will run under the Zoji La from Baltal to Minamarg and take the Srinagar–Leh road out of the pass's snow and avalanche zone. Crews broke through in June 2026, and opening is expected around 2028. Until then, the Zoji La Pass Road route (63 km, topping out at about 3,540 m) is the way across.

Shinku La Tunnel (about 4.1 km). This one is being built by the Border Roads Organisation under the Shinku La, on the Darcha–Padum road into Zanskar. Once it opens, Zanskar should be reachable from Lahaul all year. For now, the Manali to Leh - Zanskar Route crosses the pass itself.

One route, a string of tunnels

If you want to drive through as many of these as possible, look at the Hanges Boots Ladakh Circuit. It's a 2,445 km off-road loop, and its track goes through:

• the new four-lane tunnels between Kiratpur and Nerchowk in Himachal
• the Atal Tunnel
• the short Nandni tunnels between Jammu and Udhampur
• the Chenani–Nashri tunnel
• the new tunnels near Ramban at Peerah, Chanderkot and Painthal
• the Banihal–Qazigund tunnel
• the Z-Morh tunnel on the way to Zoji La

It's a good example of how much of the Jammu–Srinagar–Leh corridor now runs underground. Open it on the map to see each of them along the route.

What about the railway tunnels?

Some of the most famous tunnels in India are railway tunnels, and you can't drive through them. The Pir Panjal railway tunnel (about 11.2 km) runs parallel to the Banihal–Qazigund road tunnel. The new Udhampur–Srinagar–Baramulla line has even longer bores. The Karbude tunnel on the Konkan Railway (about 6.5 km) and Barog's Tunnel 33 on the Kalka–Shimla line are rail as well. They're worth seeing from a train window, but they don't belong on a road-trip plan.

Driving through long tunnels: a few habits

• Headlights on, sunglasses off. Your eyes take a few seconds to adjust at each portal. Slow down before you go in, not inside.
• No stopping, no photos, no overtaking. Tunnels like Atal and Chenani–Nashri are monitored by camera, and stopping inside for a picture is dangerous and not allowed.
• Watch the portals in winter. At altitude, the tunnel itself may be dry while the approach roads are icy, especially the north portal of Atal and both ends of Z-Morh. The elevation profile shows you how high each portal sits.
• Check status before you go. High tunnels close for snow clearance, maintenance and security reasons, and some have time windows or vehicle restrictions. Weather and road notices change daily in the mountains.
• Know your fuel and your exits. Long tunnels have emergency bays and phones, but your phone's GPS may drop out inside. Download your route for offline use before you set off.

Plan the drive, not just the tunnel

A tunnel is usually a few minutes of a much longer day. What matters is what's on either side: the climb to the portal, the valley you come out into, where you can stop for fuel. Every route linked above has a full elevation profile, surface breakdown and weather forecast. In the TrailX app you can preview it in a 3D flyover before you go, then navigate it offline once you're out of signal.

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