The highway connects national capital Delhi with Kolkata as well as important cities such as Faridabad, Mathura, Agra, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Dhanbad, Asansol, Durgapur and Bardhaman.

[2] The road was the part of National Highway network of India, and it is officially listed as running over 1,465 km.

The kilometer counts in each of the states were Delhi (12), Haryana (74), Uttar Pradesh (752), Bihar (202), Jharkhand (190), West Bengal (235).

It ran parallel to the Faridabad corridor of Delhi Metro and passed through Palwal before entering Uttar Pradesh.

After leaving Agra it enters in Firozabad district and then Etawah where 15  km bypass of city is made.

The overbridges built in Agra, Kanpur, Fatehpur and Allahabad have reduced city traffic problems.

(West–east alignment) The Bihar stretch of NH 2 starts from the bridge on the Karmanasa River that forms the border with Uttar Pradesh.

(East–west alignment) The Jharkhand stretch of NH 2 extends from the bridge on the Barakar River on the Asansol-Nirsa bypass to around Barachatti, and runs for 190 kilometres (120 mi).

Thereafter for a long stretch up to Isri the massive Parasnath Hills / Shikharji dominates on the northern side of NH 2.

(East–west alignment) The West Bengal end of NH 2 starts or terminates at Dankuni in the outskirts of Kolkata.

[4] There is a 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) stretch to the Nivedita Bridge, and thereafter Belghoria Expressway links it to Barrackpur Trunk Road, and Jessore Road/ NH 34.

From Palsit to the outskirts of Asansol it follows the old Grand Trunk Road bypassing such towns as Saktigarh, Bardhaman and Raniganj but passes through Durgapur and Andal.

The latter passes through crowded areas of Asansol, Neamatpur, Kulti and Barakar in West Bengal and Chirkunda and Kumardhubi in Jharkhand.