NEW DELHI: A sharp pickup in road construction led to a 93% surge in bitumen imports in 2014-15, when 13 km of roads were built every day on average under the Narendra Modi government compared to 3 km in the last days of the previous regime. Bitumen is the first layer even in concrete roads and a step-up in construction activity is bound to reflect in the consumption of the commodity, officials said."Road construction has picked up…If you go around you will see construction activity on stream," a senior road transport ministry official said. Although the government is making efforts to switch to concrete and other new materials for road construction, bitumen is still consumed. For highways, especially, construction continues to be largely reliant on bitumen.According to Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, imports of bitumen went up to about 4.5 lakh tonnes in 2014-15 from nearly 2.3 lakh tonnes in the previous fiscal. The domestic production of bitumen has remained flat at 47 lakh tonnes per annum for the last two years as it is considered a low value product while most refineries focus on high value products. Indian economy grew 7.3% in 2014-15 and the government has pegged growth in the current fiscal at 8.1-8.5%. The government is expected to award about 10,000 km over the next few weeks as part of its plan to rebuild the country’s creaky road infrastructure to boost growth. The road transport ministry has set a target of achieving 30 km per day of highway construction by 2017.Experts said the sharp increase in bitumen imports is a sign that construction in stuck road projects is finally taking off."Action on the ground seems to be picking up. We will also see more contracts being awarded, loans getting disbursed by the NHAI ( National Highways Authority of India ) now," said Vishwas Udgirkar Deloitte India.Of the 16 projects awarded during 2013-14, work has began on 12 projects. This is in stark contrast to the record of the previous two years, when only 10-18% of projects managed to start construction. According to Crisil, nearly 50% of the work has been completed in projects awarded last year."Such momentum is unparalleled and stands in sharp relief to the imbroglio seen in the last couple of years," the agency said in a report. The government awarded 7,980 km of projects in 2014-15, more than double the 3,962 km awarded in the previous year.