The DBM rate per cubic meter for grading I in official state schedules runs from Rs 6,133 in Haryana’s HSR 2023 and Rs 6,328 in Chhattisgarh’s Road SOR of 15 June 2026 to Rs 9,260.10 in Uttarakhand’s Champawat block (23 March 2026) and Rs 9,664 in Maharashtra’s SSR 2022-23, for dense bituminous macadam mixed in a hot mix plant, laid by paver and rolled. Bituminous concrete (BC) on top costs Rs 7,595 to Rs 10,968.30 a cubic metre in the same books. At 2.30 tonnes a cubic metre, DBM works out to roughly Rs 2,650 to Rs 4,200 a tonne. Bitumen alone is about half the rate where a book lets you work it out.

Rs 6,328 or Rs 9,664? Both are official prices for one cubic metre of the same layer. The gap comes from the bitumen price each book assumes, the plant it specifies and the year it was priced, and a bidder needs to know which one moves the number.

DBM is the bituminous base course over wet mix macadam, and BC the thinner wearing course above it; the road construction layers guide explains both.

DBM rate per cubic meter in state schedules of rates

Each figure is the completed rate per cubic metre of compacted DBM, with item number and effective date. Grading I is the coarser mix (37.5 mm aggregate, about 4% bitumen); grading II is the finer one (26.5 mm, about 4.5%).

Schedule (effective date) Item DBM, Rs per cum Basis
Chhattisgarh PWD Road SOR (15 Jun 2026) 5.4 A, 40-60 TPH hot mix plant, sensor paver 6,328 (grading I) / 6,831 (grading II) Excludes GST; includes royalty and DMF
Uttarakhand PWD, Champawat block 74-A (23 Mar 2026) 5.04 (i) / (ii), batch plant, large-project column 9,260.10 / 9,849.80 Excludes GST
Puducherry PSR 2024-25 (14 Aug 2024) 5.6A / 5.6B, 40-60 TPH plant, bitumen 4.0 to 4.5% 9,136.40 / 9,113.85 GST basis of item rates not stated
Haryana HSR 2023 online report (premium date 1 Apr 2023) 17.30.1 / 17.30.2, batch plant 6,133 / 6,655 Bitumen priced at Panipat refinery, 15 Apr 2021
Maharashtra PWD SSR 2022-23 (25 Jul 2022) 3.44 batch plant / 3.46 drum plant, grading I, 4.5% bitumen 9,664 / 9,178 Excludes GST; 10% overheads and 10% profit included

Every item covers the hot mix, haulage to site, laying and rolling. None includes the tack coat, a separate square-metre item.

BC rate per cubic metre, the layer on top

Schedule (effective date) Item BC, Rs per cum
Chhattisgarh Road SOR (15 Jun 2026) 5.7 A, sensor paver, grading I 5.5% VG-30 / grading II 6.0% 7,938 / 8,399 (CRMB-60 grading I: 8,639)
Uttarakhand, Champawat 74-A (23 Mar 2026) 5.05 A / B, 5.2% / 5.4% bitumen, large project 10,968.30 / 11,225.40
Puducherry PSR 2024-25 5.8A.1 / 5.8B.1, VG-30, 5.4 to 5.6% 10,376.00 / 10,330.81
Haryana HSR 2023 17.31.1 (50-65 mm) / 17.31.2 (30-45 mm) 7,595 / 7,749
Maharashtra SSR 2022-23 3.48 batch plant, 5.2% / 3.50 drum plant, 5.4%, 50 mm 10,599 / 10,627

BC costs Rs 935 to Rs 1,708 a cubic metre more than grading I DBM in the same book, mostly because it carries more bitumen: 5.2 to 6% of the mix against 4 to 4.5%.

Per cubic metre, per tonne or per square metre

Hot mix plants sell by the tonne, and many contracts pay surfacing by the square metre. Chhattisgarh’s 2026 Road SOR works out bitumen on compacted densities of 2.30 grams per cc for DBM and 2.36 for BC, and Maharashtra’s material table also uses 2.30 for DBM. Divide the per cum rate by the density for a tonne, and multiply by the layer thickness in metres for a square metre.

Rate (grading I) Per cum Per tonne Per sqm, thinner layer Per sqm, thicker layer
DBM, Puducherry PSR 2024-25 9,136.40 3,972 457 (50 mm) 685 (75 mm)
DBM, Uttarakhand Champawat 2026 9,260.10 4,026 463 (50 mm) 695 (75 mm)
DBM, Chhattisgarh 2026 6,328 2,751 316 (50 mm) 475 (75 mm)
BC, Puducherry PSR 2024-25 10,376 4,397 311 (30 mm) 415 (40 mm)

These conversions are our arithmetic, before GST. As a worked example, 1 km of 7 m carriageway with 50 mm of DBM is 350 cubic metres, about 805 tonnes of mix, or roughly Rs 32 lakh at Puducherry’s rate. A 40 mm BC course over it adds 280 cubic metres, about Rs 29 lakh.

How much of the rate is bitumen, and how much is machinery

Maharashtra’s SSR lists the theoretical material in a cubic metre of DBM: 103.50 kg of bitumen at 4.5% and 1.528 cubic metres of aggregate and filler. At its VG-30 bulk price of Rs 49,862 a tonne ex-refinery Mumbai, the binder alone is about Rs 5,161, or 53% of the Rs 9,664 rate. In Puducherry’s book, 98.10 kg of VG-30 at Rs 42,533.67 a tonne comes to Rs 4,173, about 46%. Chhattisgarh’s figure is the outlier: 92 kg at its own Rs 45,647 a tonne is about Rs 4,200 of a Rs 6,328 rate, which leaves little for stone, plant and profit.

Haryana’s HSR splits each rate into three columns:

HSR 2023 item Labour Machinery Material Total, Rs per cum
17.30.1 DBM, 80-100 mm, VG-30 at 4.0% 47 726 5,360 6,133
17.31.1 BC, 50-65 mm, VG-30 at 5.2% 48 796 6,751 7,595

Machinery is about 12% of the DBM rate and labour under 1%. The schedules also print hourly hire: Puducherry’s PSR 2024-25 pays Rs 8,580 for a 40-60 TPH hot mix plant, Rs 2,000 for a sensor paver and Rs 850 for a tandem roller, and Chhattisgarh’s 2026 book allows Rs 799 an hour for a tandem roller, fuel and operator included.

Every DBM and BC item names the tandem roller for compaction. Models such as the Volvo DD90, around Rs 39.9-44.1 lakh (indicative, as of Oct 2026), and the HAMM HD 99i VV are in this class. If you roll bituminous layers most of the year, compare tandem roller models and prices against what you pay in hire.

Why the same DBM rate varies so much

Bitumen grade comes first. Chhattisgarh uses VG-30 unless specified, requires VG-40 in the BC surface course on roads designed for 20 to 50 million standard axles, and recommends VG-40 or modified bitumen for BC and top DBM layers where the highest daily mean temperature exceeds 40°C, citing IRC:111-2009. It adds 4% to the item rate when VG-40 replaces VG-30. Maharashtra prices VG-40 bulk at Rs 52,764 a tonne against Rs 49,862 for VG-30.

Bitumen content is the second. Grading II DBM at 4.5% costs Rs 503 a cubic metre more than grading I at 4.0% in Chhattisgarh, and BC at 5.2 to 6% costs more again.

Then the plant and paver. Maharashtra’s drum mix DBM is Rs 486 cheaper than its batch mix item, and Chhattisgarh’s 100-120 TPH batch plant item (5.5 A) is Rs 523 dearer than its 40-60 TPH one. It also prices a sensor paver above a mechanical one (Rs 6,328 against Rs 6,145 for grading I), a gap the paver operator salary post looks at from the crew’s side.

Project size matters too. In Uttarakhand’s Champawat block, grading I DBM is Rs 9,260.10 for a large project and Rs 9,863.00 for a small one, 6.5% more. Bitumen haulage is priced on top: Maharashtra allows Rs 10 a tonne per km from refinery to plant, and Uttarakhand’s Roorkee material sheet adds Rs 1,329.38 a tonne for 135 km to a basic VG-30 price of Rs 40,892.

Last, the edition. Haryana’s 2023 report still prices bitumen at the Panipat refinery rate of 15 April 2021. An old rate shows the structure of the cost, not today’s price.

Using a schedule rate when you price DBM

Departments estimate from these books, so the schedule rate is what your bid is measured against. Some of their rules hit contractors directly. The Chhattisgarh PWD Schedule of Rates for Road Works, 15 June 2026 says bitumen needed above the item’s percentage under your job mix formula is your cost, and any shortfall is recovered at the SOR’s bitumen rate. Haryana’s amended items also refuse payment for bitumen above the item percentage. Chhattisgarh also recovers bitumen cost if the compacted density falls below 2.30 for DBM. Price bitumen at your refinery quote plus haulage, check which edition the tender uses, and add GST where the book excludes it. The GSB and WMM rates for the layers below follow the same logic, and the hot mix plant business post prices the same mix per tonne from the supplier’s side. Puducherry’s book is on the Puducherry PWD schedule of rates page.

Your next step is to find live DBM and BC road work among tenders and project opportunities and price it against the schedule your state uses.

Schedule of rates figures are government estimating rates for the states, items and dates shown, are mostly exclusive of GST, and are not a market quote. Per tonne and per sqm figures are our arithmetic from the schedules’ own densities. Rates, schemes, specifications and prices change — confirm current terms with the OEM, dealer, bank or insurer, or the issuing department, before deciding.