Building strategic reserve of crude oil

The Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today that the Government, through Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL), is setting up Strategic Crude Oil Reserves with storage capacity of 5.33 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) at three locations viz. Visakhapatnam (storage capacity: 1.33 MMT), Mangalore (storage capacity: 1.5 MMT) and Padur (storage capacity: 2.5 MMT) to enhance the energy security of the country.

The entire expenditure on purchase of crude oil to fill the Visakhapatnam cavern is proposed to be done with Gross Budgetary Support (GBS). A part of the funding requirement for purchasing crude required to partially fill the Mangalore and Padur caverns would be met from GBS. The Government also continues to explore alternative models for funding the balance requirement of crude oil to fill Mangalore and Padur caverns.

RC/Rk