The NDA Government’s intentions to build all new highways using indigenous concrete in place of bitumen, which has to be imported, has brought cheer to road sector experts as well as the cement industry.
While the industry is upbeat that the move will revive its fortunes, officers at the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) are happy that they will be able to build a much sturdier and modern highway network comparable with the rest of the developed world.
“We were asked to prepare a detailed analysis on the use of cement and bitumen in building roads with a focus on cost and durability. Although bitumen is cheaper, the cost of importing it makes it expensive. On the other hand, cement is homegrown but expensive. Cost comparisons — which include material, building and durability — shrink the difference to 10 per cent between bitumen and cement,” said an official from the Ministry.
New Minister for Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has set an ambitious road-building target of 30 kms per day. This could translate into construction of 45,000 kms of a concrete highway network in the next five years.
According to rough estimates, approximately 1,000 tons of cement is required for a seven metre wide — one km cement concrete road, carrying heavy axle loads and high volume traffic. Its approximate cost would be `230 lakh, using 25 per cent fly ash. It includes the cost of 30 cm thick Pavement Quality Concrete (PQC), 10 cm thick Dry lean Concrete (DlC) layer and 15 cm thick granular sub-base layers (costs exclude land acquisition, earth work, structures like bridges.)
For the same traffic volume and heavy axle loads, the initial cost of bitumen will be `207 lakh, as per the current price, `23 lakh less than cement concrete road.
“At present, there is a 10 per cent difference. But if we were to look at maintenance costs, bitumen roads need perennial repairs, as compared to cement, which is projected to have a life of 20-30 years. So even the material and building costs, will square out with time,” said the official.
Nitin Gadkari has asked his officials to work out long-term contract relationships with cement industries in the country to procure homemade concrete at low rates.
“We are working on building long-term deals with local cement manufacturers to bridge the gap between bitumen and cement costs to a minimum. We are hoping to bring down the difference to a minimal 10-15 per cent,” said the official.
“We are hoping to make a rate contract with the cement industry by which we can get cement at a reasonable rate, which can increase road construction. We are hoping to get a 30-40 per cent discount from the current rates. The Minister (Gadkari) is very keen on this and will take a decision soon,” said the official.
The cement industry is already rejoicing as it can probably hear its cash registers ringing.
“This decision should give a significant boost to the cement industry. Our sagging economy will be changed for the better tomorrow as cement and GDP both have a symbiotic co-relationship of 1.1 to 1.2,” said a spokesperson from the Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA).
“This can be gauged from the fact that when the Indian economy had been passing through a difficult phase during the last three years, its impact has been clearly visible on the growth rate of the cement industry, with its growth hovering around 3-5 per cent in the last 2-3 years as against its average growth rate of 8 - 10 per cent posted earlier,” he said.
According to CMA, cement concrete roads will also result in fuel saving to the extent of 14 per cent. This, if converted into money would be more than Rs. 1,70,000 crores, assuming all trucks in country ply on cement roads.
“Right now the cement industry is manufacturing about 370 million tons of cement annually, and this is only 70 per cent of the capacity. Even if we run our machines to an 85 per cent capacity, there will be a surplus of 50-60 million tons,” said a top-level officer from a private cement company.
“Cement is an indigenous product, available on demand throughout the country, whereas bitumen is only obtained from imported crude and its availability in future is uncertain and scarce. Thus, by adopting cement roads, more than Rs. 75,000 crores of FOREX, being currently spent on import of crude can be saved which would be helpful in improving our current account deficit,” said a CMA spokesperson.
“It will be a win-win situation for both the Government as well as the cement industry. There will never be a need to import to meet the increased demand,” said a senior official from prominent cement major.
“If the Government constructs about 20 kms per day, which is about 7,000 kms per year, cement requirement would not be more seven million tons annually,” he said.
The big hitch say, industry insiders is that the expertise to build concrete roads in the country is very limited at the moment. “There are limited contractors and work force with the knowledge of making roads using concrete in the country,” said a source from the cement industry.
“But if the Government finally decides to make roads using cement, the specialized work force is also bound to increase,” said the official.
Another worry, among road researchers is that cemented highways could result in increased accidents due to frequent tyre bursts as has been witnessed on Yamuna Expressways. That is more because Indian drivers lack training on the use of tyres.
An expert on road safety at the Traffic Engineering and Safety Division, CRRI, said concrete road causes greater heating as compared to the bitumen used in conventional roads.
“Speeding with old tyres on cement roads lead to tyre bursts due to excessive heat generation in the nylon thread in radial tyres. It is because of more friction between the tyre and concrete when driving fast.”
A senior road scientist said before going on a drive on roads like the Yamuna Expressway, one must make sure that the tyres of the vehicle are in a good condition with optimum air pressure level.
“People tend to drive at the speed of around 150km/hr which may be dangerous if the tyre is old or air pressure is not maintained. The maximum speed limit should not be more than 100km/hr,” explained the scientist.
