Contractors warn of work halt as bitumen costs rise

Panaji: The Road Contractors’ Association urged govt to revise tender rates amid soaring bitumen, crude oil, and diesel prices due to the war in West Asia, and threatened to stop road work if prices are not stabilised.

“Bitumen was costing us around Rs 47,000 per metric tonne. Now the prices have skyrocketed to Rs 84,000. This is putting a huge toll on our expenses. The bitumen is ready at Mangalore factories, but not a single contractor is ready to transport the tanker to us. We are paying an additional price of Rs 8 lakh to make that happen,” said Piety Fernandes, member of the Road Contractors’ Association.

He further said that a 20–22 tonne bitumen tanker now costs Rs 18 lakh. “We require at least 10-15 tankers like these for a major work project. With such climbing costs, it is very difficult to keep on going,” Fernandes said.

He added that the finance department has not approved project expenditures statewide, further straining their finances. “It has been six months since the expenditure sanctions haven’t been given. We cannot implement projects without the sanction. Soon, the monsoon season will arrive, and we won’t be able to complete the projects until Nov,” Fernandes said.
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