New Delhi: Due to the ongoing conflict in West Asia, the government is facing a major shortage of bitumen, which is sure to impact the construction and maintenance of tar roads. While the price of VG-40, the most commonly used grade of bitumen, has almost doubled since the conflict began, its availability has fallen short of the estimated requirement of about six lakh tonnes by July 15 for highway projects alone, reports Deepak Dash.Industry insiders said crude availability in the country remains comfortable due to Russian oil imports, but this has not improved bitumen supplies. Russia’s sweet crude cannot produce bitumen grades that are suitable for Indian weather conditions.The issue of shortage was also raised in the last meeting of the Informal Group of Ministers chaired by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, which reported that non-availability of required quality of bitumen has reduced the pace of highway construction by one-fourth in April.