India, April 4 -- India's highway construction and the road building sector is set to slow down in 2026-27 as the ongoing West Asia conflict disrupts supplies of key inputs and drives up costs, according to industry experts.

The pace of national highway construction has already declined to 23.74 km per day in 2025-26 (till the third week of March), down from 29.21 km/day in 2024-25 and 33.83 km/day in 2023-24, according to ratings agency CareEdge. The report, released on Monday, forecast execution to slow further to 21-22 km per day this fiscal.

The slowdown is being driven by a shortage of bitumen, a key petroleum product used in road surfacing, with contractors reporting a sharp mismatch between demand and supply.

A spokesperson for ...