Why are Indian roads bad?

A road in India is not that black surface you see. It is a conceptual problem. The road is what is below it. And what is below it is effective drainage. If the road is not drained properly, it will dissolve. Water is one of the biggest enemies of asphalt. As soon as there is water, the asphalt disintegrates. Small gravels start moving, the first layer goes, the next layer goes.

But drainage is only part of it. Where it can fail is how it is contracted. The practice of calling for the lowest bidder is where the first compromise starts. Then there are corruption issues, environmental issues, and contractors who have not studied the site. They do not know the traffic data, let alone the potential growth. You build something for 100, and suddenly it becomes a million. It would not take that kind of repeated load.