Which one of the following National Highways passes through Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Orissa?

Answer: (c) NH 6

Old NH 6 (Hazira–Kolkata) crossed Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

The idea

A highway’s path through States can identify it even when its endpoints are not given. Chhattisgarh is inland, so a route crossing it cannot be merely an east-coast highway. Read the 2007 question using the old highway numbers.

Hazira in Gujarat → Maharashtra interior → Chhattisgarh → Odisha interior → Jharkhand → Kolkata in West Bengal

Why the others are wrong

(a) Old NH 4 ran Maharashtra–Karnataka–Tamil Nadu.

(b) Old NH 5 ran along the east coast (Odisha–Andhra–Chennai).

(d) Old NH 7 ran north–south, Varanasi to Kanyakumari.

The trap

NH 5 also enters Odisha — but along the coast, never through Chhattisgarh.

Elimination technique

Old NH 5 followed the east coast and did not cross inland Chhattisgarh. Old NH 4 and NH 7 ran farther south or north–south; the inland west–east corridor fits old NH 6.

Also know

Chhattisgarh became a State in 2000; earlier maps show the same corridor within Madhya Pradesh. Odisha was officially renamed from Orissa in 2011. Nagpur and Raipur are useful inland anchors on the old NH 6 corridor.