NEW DELHI:

India will provide 55.97 billion rupees ($646.78 million) support for the purchase of oil for the country’s strategic petroleum reserves (SPRs), the budget document showed on Saturday.

Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Ltd (ISPRL), which manages federal oil inventories, operates three SPRs in southern India with a combined capacity of about 5 million tonnes. Part of that capacity is used for commercial operations by companies including Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC).

The budget proposals also include an allocation of about 1.8 billion rupees for operation and maintenance of the SPRs and about 3.35 billion rupees for purchase of land and construction of new caverns. India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, imports over 80% of its oil needs and is raising its SPR capacity to protect against any global supply disruption. ISPRL has sought interest from private companies to build and operate a 2.5 million metric tonne store for petroleum reserves at Padur in the southern state of Karnataka.