India Expands Strategic Reserves with $42 Billion LNG Storage Plan

India is planning to expand its strategic petroleum reserves beyond crude oil by building storage facilities for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG), at a total cost of $42 billion. The new stockpiles, when full, will cover about two months of LNG demand and six weeks of LPG use.

The plan to build and fully stock the reserves will take around 10 years. India currently imports half of its LNG requirements and 60% of its LPG needs, mostly from the Middle East.

The government is considering additional levies for LNG and LPG consumers to finance the construction of the gas reserves, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has yet to approve the plan as it would be politically sensitive in a high inflation environment.