October 05, 2020 [Tank Storage Magazine] – India’s minister of petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan has invited companies to develop 6.5 million tonnes of crude oil storage facilities across India, according to reports.

Pradhan was speaking at a conference on energy security organised by Global Counter Terrorism Council on 29 September 2020. Sources told the Financial Express that the government is looking for financial investors, foreign oil companies, and large construction firms to build the facilities. There may also be the option for the companies to enter into a concessionaire agreement for the construction, filling and operation of the facilities.

The Financial Express says that currently, storage capacity in India can provide for 74 days of consumption, but the government would like to increase this to 90 days India has existing strategic petroleum reserve facilities in Visakhapatnam (1.3 million tonnes), Mangaluru (1.5 million tonnes) and Padur (2.5 million tonnes), amounting to 9.5 days of India’s crude requirements, with state-run oil marketing companies supplying oil for a further 64.5 days.

The Indian government has given in-principal approvals for two storage facilities under a public-private partnership model at Chandikhol in Odisha (4 million tonnes) and Padur in Karnataka (2.5 million tonnes). In July the government signed a memorandum of understanding with the US government that could see it store oil in the US strategic petroleum reserve.

Pradhan also said that as part of the drive for energy security, the Indian government will also explore the use of alternative fuels such as ethanol, second generation ethanol, compressed biogas and biodiesel.

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