“Road construction activity is in full swing. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) constructed 12,349 km of national highways in 2023-24, the second highest so far, compared to 10,331 km in 2022-23,” the oil ministry said in its industry demand analysis.
More than 40% of bitumen consumed in the country is imported. India paid $1.3 billion for bitumen imports in FY24, 8% more than the previous year. In volume terms, bitumen accounts for about 4% of total domestic consumption of refined products.
Bitumen consumption has gained pace in recent years in line with increasing road construction activity. Average annual consumption in the last five financial years was 7.7 MMT, up from an average of 5.94 MMT between 2014-15 and 2018-19.
Last fiscal, western India was the largest consumer of bitumen and the East the smallest. Bitumen is the preferred material for road building although cement is also being increasingly used for making concrete roads.
