Nenu Na Poori (Telugu boothu Kathalu)

In a bid to capture 12-year low oil prices, the government today exempted crude oil imported for storage in strategic reserves from payment of interest on unpaid customs duty. India is building three

underground storages at Mangalore and Vizag for use in contingencies like supply disruptions and abnormal spike in oil prices. The government wants these to be filled when oil prices are trading at around USD 35 per barrel. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) issued a notification exempting the oil imported for storage at the strategic reserves from payment of interest on unpaid customs duty.

"The CBEC, being satisfied that it is necessary so to do in the public interest, hereby specifies... crude imported and stored in underground rock caverns, in respect of which no interest shall be charged under the said Section 61," it said in a notification.

The underground storages at Visakhapatnam, Mangalore and Padur will store about 5.33 million tonnes of crude oil. Visakhapatnam facility has a capacity to store 1.33 million tons of crude oil in underground rock caverns. Huge underground cavities, almost ten storey tall and approximately 3.3 km long have been built to stock oil. A similar facility in Mangalore has a capacity of 1.55 million tons while the Padur has capacity of 2.5-million tons.