It linked Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh near New Delhi with Badrinath and Mana Pass in Uttarakhand near Indo-Tibet border.

The highway started from Mana village north of Badrinath temple and passed through Badrinath, Joshimath, Chamoli, Vishnuprayag, Nandaprayag, Karnaprayag, Rudraprayag, Srinagar, Devprayag, Rishikesh, Haridwar, Roorkee, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut and Modinagar and ended at Ghaziabad, a few km short of Delhi.

The pilgrim season in the hills starts with melting of the snow at the end of April or in the beginning of May and continues until the onset of monsoon rains in late June.

Tens of millions of pilgrims attending the Kumbh Mela in January to March 2021 at Haridwar will use this highway extensively.

Earlier it was built only up to Chamoli and has over the years gradually been extended to Joshimath, Badrinath and finally to Mana Pass near the border with Tibet.

The Muzaffarnagar to Haridwar stretch has been awarded for similar development with scheduled completion by February 2013, but has been delayed due to problems such as land acquisition, tree felling and inadequate mobilization by the Concessionaire.