Bhubaneswar, March 25 Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan urged his cabinet colleague in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, and the Chief Minister of Odisha, Mohan Charan Majhi, to expedite the implementation of the proposed 'Strategic Petroleum Reserve' (SPR) project in the Jajpur district.
The issue has been a major concern since the outbreak of war in West Asia disrupted the supply of crude oil, natural gas, and LPG from Gulf countries to India.
The proposed 4 million metric ton (MMT) capacity SPR project at Chandikhole in Jajpur district was intended to strengthen the country's energy security in the future, Pradhan told Puri and Majhi in separate letters.
Pradhan, a former minister in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, urged the authorities to take steps for the early completion and expeditious operationalization of the SPR project.
He said that the Union Cabinet had approved the project at Chandikhole, which would be built at a cost of ₹8,743 crore, on June 27, 2018.
"I had written a letter to the then Chief Minister regarding this, but it could not be implemented. In the next phase, on April 8, 2025, in New Delhi, in the presence of Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri, Chief Minister of Odisha Mohan Charan Majhi, and myself, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Industrial Promotion & Investment Corporation of Odisha Limited, the Odisha Government, and Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Limited, and the work has progressed," Pradhan said.
The proposed project will be the world's largest underground crude oil storage facility. It will create direct and indirect employment opportunities for over 5,000 people, he said.
Pradhan noted that India currently has an oil storage capacity of 9.5 days. Once the Chandikhole project becomes operational, it will add an additional 7.12 days to the country's crude oil requirement.
The project will make a significant contribution to Odisha's GDP and will boost the transport, hospitality, and construction industries, he said, adding that the storage will act as a 'buffer stock' for the country in times of oil price volatility or supply disruption in the global market.
In addition, the project will make Odisha the main driver of industrial and economic growth in eastern India and will fulfill the Prime Minister's vision of 'Mission Purvoday'. The project will not only ensure energy security but also boost the country's economy and will be particularly helpful in times of emergency, he said.
India, the world's third-largest energy consumer, which heavily relies on imports for about 88 per cent of its crude oil needs, has built strategic underground storage facilities with a total capacity of 5.33 million tonnes across three locations – Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, and Mangaluru and Padur in Karnataka – to store crude oil used for producing fuels such as petrol and diesel.