India's bitumen imports face strain from West Asia conflict, raising road infrastructure concerns

The ongoing conflict in West Asia has begun to affect India's road construction sector, as bitumen—a key material for asphalt—faces supply disruptions. India imports 30 to 40 percent of its bitumen, primarily from West Asian nations, making it vulnerable to regional instability.

Bitumen, often called 'black gold' in the pavement industry, is a highly viscous, black, sticky mixture derived from crude oil. It is used as a binder in road construction to hold together aggregates like sand, gravel, and crushed stone, forming asphalt. Approximately 85 percent of India's paved roads are flexible and rely on bitumen.

The production of bitumen begins in oil refineries, where crude oil is heated to around 350-400°C to separate lighter products such as LPG, petrol, and diesel. The leftover residue, known as atmospheric residue, undergoes further processing in a vacuum distillation unit at 380-425°C to remove heavy vacuum gas oils. The final product, vacuum residue or bitumen, is then blended to meet different viscosity grades (VG-10, VG-30, VG-40) used in road paving.

India's annual bitumen demand is approximately 90 lakh tonnes. Domestic refineries, including those of IndianOil and Bharat Petroleum, produce about 54 lakh tonnes. The remaining shortfall is met through imports, with over 99 percent coming from Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Oman, and Bahrain. This import dependency has grown significantly in the last decade due to a massive expansion of road infrastructure under schemes like Bharatmala and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). National highway length increased from 91,287 km in 2014 to 1.47 lakh km (a 61 percent rise), while expressways expanded from 93 km to 3,052 km. However, domestic bitumen production has not kept pace, leading to a doubling of imports and a nearly 50 percent increase in consumption.

The West Asia conflict now threatens this supply chain. Analysts note that any disruption in imports could delay road projects and raise costs. India has explored alternatives such as using polymer-modified bitumen or increasing domestic production from heavy crude oil, but these measures are not yet sufficient to offset the reliance on imports. The situation underscores the broader strategic vulnerability of India's infrastructure ambitions to global geopolitical events.