Why India is renting out its caves to foreign firms

The underground strategic oil storage at Padur in Karnataka has four compartments of 0.625 MMT of which half will be leased out to Abu Dhabi National Oil Co to store its oil. Allowing foreign companies to use the storage helps the government save on the cost of filling the reserves (Rs 10,000 cr) and it gives Indian government the first right to the oil in case of an emergency.