When the Strait of Hormuz tightened its grip on global oil flows, India did not flinch — and Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri wants the country to know exactly why. In a post on X on Sunday, November 15, 2026, Puri laid out a sweeping argument for India's energy preparedness, anchoring it in three major new infrastructure projects across Karnataka.

Puri's post, in Hindi, frames energy security as 'not merely about meeting today's needs, but a resolve to prepare the country in advance for the challenges ahead.' He credits Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'visionary leadership' over the past decade for building the strategic muscle — energy infrastructure, storage capacity, and diversified sourcing — that allowed India to hold steady while other nations scrambled during the Hormuz crisis.

Three Karnataka projects at the centre of the announcement

The minister specifically highlights three initiatives. First, an 80,000 metric tonne underground LPG storage facility in Mangaluru — a coastal city that already anchors significant petroleum infrastructure on India's southwestern shore. Second, a modern marketing terminal at Devanagundi with a capacity of 77,000 kilolitres, designed to sharpen downstream distribution. Third, a Compressed Biogas (CBG) plant in Bengaluru capable of producing 12.6 tonnes of biogas per day — squarely in the clean-energy lane.

Together, Puri argues, these projects will make India's energy supply 'more secure, reliable, and sustainable' while giving fresh momentum to the country's clean energy future.

The Hormuz backdrop and India's strategic reserves logic

The Strait of Hormuz is the world's single most critical oil transit chokepoint — roughly 20 percent of global petroleum passes through it. Periodic tensions there, whether military or diplomatic, send tremors through energy markets worldwide. India, as one of the world's largest oil importers, has long been exposed to exactly this vulnerability.

India's response, built over the last decade, has been a layered one: underground Strategic Petroleum Reserves expanded through the 2010s to cushion against sudden supply cuts, combined with active diversification of crude import sources away from an over-reliance on any single region. The underground LPG storage at Mangaluru fits directly into this logic — keeping strategic stocks literally buried and insulated from above-ground disruptions.

The CBG thread: SATAT and the clean energy pivot

The Bengaluru biogas plant connects to a longer policy thread. The government's SATAT scheme — Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation — was launched in 2018 to build a network of CBG plants that convert agricultural and municipal waste into compressed biogas for transport and industrial use. The Bengaluru plant's daily output of 12.6 tonnes represents both a local clean-energy asset and a proof-of-concept for scaling the model nationally.

The dual emphasis in Puri's post — conventional strategic storage alongside renewable biogas — reflects the broader balancing act India is performing: protecting hydrocarbon supply chains in the near term while building the infrastructure for a lower-carbon energy future.

Karnataka as India's energy infrastructure laboratory

That all three projects are located in Karnataka is itself notable. The state's geography — coastal access through Mangaluru, logistics connectivity through Bengaluru — makes it a natural testbed for integrated energy infrastructure. Mangaluru's port already serves as a critical node for petroleum imports; adding underground LPG storage deepens that strategic value considerably. The Devanagundi terminal, meanwhile, positions the region as a stronger distribution hub for southern India's fuel supply chain.

India is not just building storage. It is building the architecture of a country that intends to absorb the next global energy shock — whatever shape it takes — without breaking stride.