Iranian construction firm Tablieh and China’s Sinohydro Corp. are among those interested in building the first stage of India’s strategic crude oil reserve, a senior oil ministry official said.

Thirteen consortia have submitted preliminary bids and will now be scrutinised before a shortlist is drawn by mid-August.

A final award to construct the 7.3 million barrel reserve at the coastal city of Visakhapatnam in southern India will be made by the end of November, the official told Reuters on Friday.

The federal government wants to build a reserve totalling 36.65 million barrels by the end of 2010 to hedge against volatility in international crude oil markets and meet domestic demand in case of short-term supply disruptions.

Building the entire reserve, to be managed by Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd., is expected to cost over 25 billion rupees ($620 million).

The official, who could not be named, said Tablieh Construction Co. and Sinohydro have joined forces with separate Indian construction firms, while Japan’s Taisei Corp. and J-Power have submitted a joint bid.

“We will shortlist the consortium for final round of bidding … some time in mid-August,” the official said.

A decision would also then be taken on whether to raise the capacity of this initial phase of the reserve by more than 30 percent to 9.75 million barrels after a study suggested this could be done with limited extra expenditure.

Among the other bidders, South Korea’s Samsung Engineering & Construction Co. has jointly bid with German construction firm Alpine Bau Deutschland AG, while SK Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. has tied up with Indian market leader Larsen & Toubro Ltd. .

Other Indian firms to have submitted preliminary bids include Hindustan Construction Co. Ltd. , Jaiprakash Associates and Patel Engineering Ltd. .

The planned total reserve, sufficient to meet 15 days’ current demand, will be built at three locations along the eastern and western coasts.

The underground tanks at Visakhapatnam will store high sulphur crude, the processing of which is being targeted by refinery expansion in India to earn better margins.

Asia’s third-largest oil consumer has said it eventually wants to double overall strategic capacity to 73.3 million barrels, with the involvement of the private sector, but has not given a time frame.

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