India's Road Infrastructure Faces Crisis Amid Bitumen Shortage

India's expanding network of highways and rural roads is confronting an unexpected bottleneck: a shortage of bitumen. The raw material, a viscous residue left after refining crude oil into fuels, has become both scarce and pricey due to the ongoing US‑Iran confrontation.

Bitumen acts as the glue that holds road aggregates together, giving surfaces the flexibility to withstand traffic loads and weather extremes. Without sufficient binder, new construction slows, and existing roads develop cracks and potholes much more quickly.

The country needs roughly nine million tonnes of bitumen each year, but domestic refineries deliver only about 5.4 million tonnes. The balance is normally imported from Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Oman, most of which traverse the Hormuz Strait. Disruptions in that key maritime route, coupled with a spike in global crude prices, have pushed the average cost per tonne from around ₹40,000 to close to ₹80,000.

The price shock is straining budgets across state road agencies and private contractors. Many projects were tendered months ago at lower rates, leaving little financial leeway to absorb the sudden cost surge. Rural road schemes, in particular, are seeing work slow or stop altogether.

India has begun producing bio‑bitumen from agricultural residues such as rice husk, but the scale is still negligible compared with the nine‑million‑tonne requirement. Until the supply chain normalises, the bitumen deficit will continue to hinder road construction and repair across the nation.