Strait of Hormuz: How many days can India survive with its strategic oil reserves?
India maintains a Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), managed by Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL) under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. The SPR is meant to cushion India against supply disruptions.
Why this question now
After the US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites and Tehran’s threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, India’s strategic oil reserve is in the spotlight. If this key oil route is blocked, can India cope?
What is India’s strategic oil reserve?
India maintains a Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), managed by Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL) under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. The SPR is meant to cushion India against supply disruptions.
Current capacity
As per Ministry of Petroleum (source: isprlindia.com, PIB), India has 5.33 million metric tonnes (MMT) of crude oil stored across three underground facilities — Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Mangaluru (Karnataka), and Padur (Karnataka).
How many days will this last?
The current SPR can supply roughly 9 to 10 days of India’s crude oil requirement based on 2023 consumption patterns (source: Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell - PPAC).
India’s plan to expand reserves
India has approved Phase-II expansion of the SPR by an additional 6.5 MMT, which will increase total capacity to cover 22 days of crude requirement once completed (source: Ministry of Petroleum & ISPRL updates, 2024).
Other buffers
Apart from SPR, oil marketing companies (OMCs) maintain their own commercial stockpiles, which add another 60-65 days of coverage. Together with SPR, India has a total buffer of roughly 70-75 days.
The bottom line
If Iran shuts the Strait of Hormuz, India has limited emergency reserves — enough for short-term resilience. But a prolonged disruption would still impact the economy, making diversification of oil sources and SPR expansion crucial.
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