9MAY 2024BITUMEN UTILIZATION HIGHEST IN 10 YEARS, SAYS OIL MINISTRYINDIAN RAILWAYS LAID OUT 27,000 KMS OF RAILWAY LINES IN LAST DECADE, SAYS MINISTRYBitumen consumption reached a ten-year high in the last fiscal year, primarily driven by a surge in road construction activities ahead of the general election. According to data from the oil ministry, sales of bitumen, primarily used for road construction, increased by 10 percent to 8.8 million metric tonnes (MMT) in FY24.The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) played a significant role in boosting road construction, having completed 12,349 km of national highways in 2023-24, which was the second-highest figure recorded so far. This marked a substantial increase from the 10,331 km constructed in the previous fiscal year.Importantly, over 40 percent of the bitumen consumed in India is imported, with the country spending $1.3 billion on bitumen imports in FY24, representing an 8 percent increase compared to the previous year. Bitumen accounts for around 4% of the total domestic consumption of refined products.Bitumen consumption has been on an upward trend in recent years, in line with the growing road construction activity. Over the last five financial years, the average annual consumption of bitumen was 7.7 MMT, compared to an average of 5.94 MMT between 2014-15 and 2018-19.In terms of regional consumption, western India emerged as the largest consumer of bitumen in the last fiscal year, while the East recorded the lowest consumption. Bitumen remains the preferred material for road construction, although there is an increasing trend towards using cement for making concrete roads. The Indian Railways has laid an average of 7.41 kilometers of tracks per day over the past decade, according to data obtained from the Railways Ministry through a Right to Information (RTI) request. This figure includes the construction of new lines, doubling, tripling, and gauge conversion of existing tracks. The total length of tracks laid from 2014-15 to 2023-24 amounts to 27,057.7 kilometers.Chandra Shekhar Gaur, based in Madhya Pradesh, who filed the RTI application, calculated the daily average based on the provided data.Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently stated in press briefings that Indian Railways is currently adding approximately 15 kilometers of new tracks every day. He highlighted the significant increase from 4 kilometers per day in 2014 to the current rate.In the fiscal year 2022-23, Indian Railways laid a total of 3,901 kilometers of tracks, including new lines (473 kilometers), doubling (3,185.53 kilometers), and gauge conversion (242.2 kilometers). However, the Indian Railways' website has not been updated beyond the fiscal year 2021-22.Officials regard the fiscal year 2022-23 as unprecedented for Indian Railways, as it witnessed the highest number of track kilometers laid in its history.
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