CHENNAI: Several ongoing state and national highway projects across Tamil Nadu have been disrupted due to shortage of bitumen and steep hike in its price because of the West Asia crisis. According to state highways officials, the projects involving road widening, laying, re-laying, and routine maintenance have been delayed or stalled owing to reduction in bitumen supply from oil marketing companies.
Major projects that are hit include those taken up under the Chief Minister’s Road Development Scheme, the Chennai-Kanniyakumari Industrial Corridor Project, and the Chief Minister’s Village Roads Development Scheme, among others. The works include widening of two-lane roads into four-lane roads, upgrading intermediate lanes into two-lane roads with paved shoulders, and laying of new roads.
Industry sources said the supply chain of bitumen has been affected primarily due to difficulties in sourcing the specific type of crude oil required to produce Viscosity Grade (VG)-30 bitumen. VG-30 is widely used for state highways projects, works undertaken by the Greater Chennai Corporation, and National Highways Authority of India projects.
“VG-30 grade bitumen is the most widely used material for laying state and national highways as well as roads in Chennai city,” said an official from an oil marketing company.
VG-30 bitumen cost jumped from Rs 55K to Rs 1.05L per tonne
“Due to the West Asia war, crude oil is now being sourced from more than 10 countries across the world. However, the crude oil currently procured from certain countries is not yielding the VG-30 bitumen required for road projects. The overall functioning of refineries, however, remains unaffected,” the official added.
Refineries operated by oil marketing companies in Chennai, Kochi and Visakhapatnam, along with private refineries, manufacture three grades of bitumen from processed crude oil — VG-10, VG-30 and VG-40. While VG-10 bitumen is mainly used for roads in rural areas, VG-40 is largely used for airport runway construction.
The price of VG-30 bitumen, which ranged between `45,000 and `55,000 per tonne before February, has now increased sharply to `95,000-`1,05,000 per tonne due to increase in crude oil price in the international market. The steep rise in prices has affected the execution of highway projects in Chennai.
“When contractors submit proposals seeking revision of project costs, citing the increase in bitumen prices, the state may consider the request only if the contractor is executing the work within the agreed contract period. If the contractor has exceeded the agreement period, the request for cost revision may not be considered,” a senior highways official said.