India has assigned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation to develop a new Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) at Mangaluru, Karnataka

¨     India has assigned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to develop a new Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) at Mangaluru, Karnataka.

¨     The project involves the construction of an underground crude oil storage cavern.

¨     The estimated cost of the project is ₹15,000 crore.

¨     The new facility will add 1.75 million metric tonnes (MMT) of crude oil storage capacity.

¨     A Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is an emergency stockpile of crude oil maintained to ensure energy security during supply disruptions or import shortages.

¨     India's existing SPR facilities are located at Visakhapatnam, Mangaluru, and Padur.

¨     The combined storage capacity of these three SPR facilities is 5.33 MMT.

¨     ONGC is a state-owned enterprise under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

¨     Unlike previous SPR projects, ONGC will finance and construct the new facility using its own balance sheet.

¨   Earlier SPR facilities were developed and managed by Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL).

¨     The project includes about ₹5,000 crore for construction.

¨     Around ₹10,000 crore will be spent on filling the cavern with crude oil at current prices.

¨     ONGC already owns the land identified for the project.

¨     After completion, the new reserve will increase India's strategic crude oil storage capacity by about one-third.