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The government on Tuesday approved Rs 4,948 crore as gross budgetary support (GBS) to fill the strategic crude oil storage units being constructed at three places.
The Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd is implementing the project. The fund left after the Visakhapatnam cavern is filled will be used to fill up the strategic storage units being constructed at Mangalore and Padur. To finance the remaining cost of filling up the caverns, the government will explore alternative funding models, including commercial utilisation by interested parties.
The annual operations and maintenance costs of the reserve units are estimated to be Rs 47 crore in Vishakhapatnam and Rs 179 crore for all the three. This excludes the cost of security, which will be provided by the government.
