New Delhi, Sept. 18 -- Multiple energy and engineering giants, including Indian Oil Corp., Trafigura, Vitol, and Larsen & Toubro Ltd, have shown interest in developing a strategic crude reserve at Chandikhol, Odisha, said two people in the know.

Afcons Infrastructure, Bharat Petroleum Corp. (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corp. (HPCL) and Hindustan-Mittal Energy Ltd (HEML) have also shown initial interest in building the storage with 4 million tonnes of capacity, the people said on the condition of anonymity. The reserve would require around $1 billion to develop and an additional $2 billion to fill it, they said.

"After Padur (reserve in Karnataka), there is a lot of interest in Chandikhol," said the first of the two people quoted above. T...