International Relations GS 2 In the news 11 times

India's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) Programme

Strategic Petroleum Reserves are emergency oil stockpiles maintained by governments to cushion the impact of supply disruptions. The IEA's 90-day reserve requirement is the defining quantitative threshold for full membership and is also a critical energy security metric in its own right.

Key details

India's three underground SPR facilities are located at Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Mangaluru (Karnataka), and Padur (Karnataka), with a combined capacity of 5.33 million metric tonnes (MMT).
These government-held reserves correspond to approximately 9.5 days of India's import requirements — far short of the IEA's 90-day threshold.
Including commercial stocks held at refineries and depots, India's total oil stockpile is equivalent to approximately 66 days of demand — but IEA requires government-accessible reserves specifically.
India has announced plans to expand the SPR programme with new sites and to allow private sector participation in strategic storage (India's first private SPR project was announced in recent years).
The Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL), a special purpose vehicle under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, manages the existing SPR infrastructure.

In the news

● Tracked since February 22, 2026 · last seen August 12, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes

12 Aug '26

Parliament panel pushes for 90-day crude oil reserves, flags delays in strategic expansion

Economics

03 Aug '26

ONGC to reserve half of oil storage facility in Mangaluru towards strategic reserves: MoS Petroleum

Economics

08 May '26

India managed the West Asia crisis to reduce impact on fuel consumers

Internal Security

26 Mar '26