India is advancing plans to expand its Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR). The Petroleum Ministry told the parliamentary committee that 400 acres have been acquired at Chandikhol in Odisha for a new storage site and that a request for proposal for the project is under review. Feasibility studies for Bikaner caverns are complete and a pre-feasibility study for Bina has concluded with a Detailed Feasibility Report to be initiated.

Regarding Padur-II the government said the concessionaire agreement between Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL) and the selected bidder was signed on one October 2025 and that final closure to meet conditions precedent is in progress. ISPRL has completed a feasibility study for developing an additional one point seven five million tonnes (mn t) at Mangalore, has acquired around 155 acres and is seeking Special Economic Zone notification for 66 acres.

ISPRL operates SPR facilities with a combined storage capacity of five point three three mn t located at Visakhapatnam one point three three mn t Mangaluru one point five mn t and Padur two point five mn t. Phase two had in principle approval in June 2018 for two additional facilities with combined capacity of six point five mn t at Chandikhol and Padur. The extra capacity was estimated to provide around twelve days of crude oil cover based on 2019-20 consumption.

The committee urged that the global standard of maintaining 90 days of crude oil storage within the country for strengthening energy security be achieved as soon as feasible and that funds be used optimally. The ministry stated that it continuously evaluates new sites and expansion opportunities to augment crude oil and petroleum product storage capacity on technical commercial and strategic considerations. Several project milestones remain under review as authorities work towards finalisation implementation and operational readiness.