Centre defers Rs 5,000 crore plan to fill parts of strategic petroleum reserve

Mumbai: India has deferred a Rs 5,000 crore ($601.78 million) plan to fill parts of its strategic petroleum reserve, keeping in mind emerging trends in oil markets, the finance ministry said on Saturday.

In the federal budget for 2023-24, the government had outlined a plan to purchase crude oil worth Rs 5,000 crore for caverns in the southern cities of Mangalore and Visakhapatnam.

India, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer, imports over 80 per cent of its oil needs and has built strategic storage at three locations in southern India to store over 5 million tons of oil to protect against supply disruptions.

($1 = 83.0864 Indian rupees)