India, Jan. 7 -- The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on Wednesday handed over licences to multiple Indian manufacturers to produce bio-bitumen, an alternative to petroleum-based bitumen that lowers both carbon emissions and import dependency, officials said.

The bio-bitumen, jointly developed by the CSIR and the Indian Institute of Petroleum, is made from crop residues such as paddy straw that can be blended with conventional bitumen used in highways.

Officials said that providing licences to more than one industry partner to produce bio-bitumen would help speed up production and enable wider use of the material in national highway projects.

Addressing an event in New Delhi, road transport and highways minister Nit...