Bengaluru, June 19 -- The government has asked Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to construct India's next strategic petroleum reserve (SPR), marking a shift in how the country develops its emergency crude oil stockpiles.

The proposed 1.75 million metric tonne (MMT) underground crude storage cavern at Mangaluru in Karnataka is estimated to cost around Rs 15,000 crore, according to a report by The Economic Times.

State-run ONGC, which already owns the land earmarked for the project, is expected to spend nearly Rs 5,000 crore on construction, with a further Rs 10,000 crore required to fill the facility with crude oil at current prices. If completed, the project would expand India's existing strategic storage capacity of 5.33 MMT by r...