India has deferred a 50-billion-rupee ($601.78 million) plan to fill parts of its strategic petroleum reserve, keeping in mind emerging trends in oil markets, the finance ministry said on Saturday.

In the federal budget for 2023-24, the government had outlined a plan to purchase crude oil worth 50 billion rupees for caverns in the southern cities of Mangalore and Visakhapatnam.

India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, imports over 80% of its oil needs and has built strategic storage at three locations in southern India to store over 5 million tons of oil to protect against supply disruptions.