London, Sep 1 National highways in India will be renumbered so that they reflect a "scientific pattern", Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath said here on Tuesday.

"Today is the 100th day of my government in India, so I can announce it: we are renumbering our national highways," Kamal Nath told reporters.

He said the way Indian highways were currently numbered was haphazard - "Your National Highway number two and three have no relevance to each other. There could be a part going in a completely different direction.

"We are following a scientific pattern of numbering of our highways," so that they would clearly signpost whether they were between the east and west or the north and south, he said.

The government was also inviting foreign companies with expertise in highway signage to put up clearly painted signs on highways.