India Seeks Investors for $910 Million Odisha Oil Reserve

The government is offering a grant of $546 million, or 51.4 billion Indian rupees, to support the investment, The Economic Times reported. Bids are due by February 26, 2027.

India’s existing underground strategic reserves can hold 5.33 million metric tons of crude, equivalent to 39 million barrels, or about eight days of the country’s oil consumption. The expansion was already a strategic priority before the Strait of Hormuz was closed, but supply disruption early this year accelerated plans to add storage.

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, India’s top explorer, is also set to build a storage site at Mangaluru with capacity for about 13 million barrels. Disrupted crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war left India seeking alternatives to Middle Eastern supplies. Record imports from Russia have helped cushion the impact, but the country has recognized the need for more capacity for both commercial and strategic reserves.