In accordance with the mandate given to OIDB under the Oil Industry (Development) Act 1974,OIDB provides the financial and other assistance for promotion of activities which are conducive to the development of oil industry, which under the act includes all activities by way of prospecting or exploring for or production of mineral oil, refining, processing, transportation, storage, handling and marketing, of mineral oil production and marketing of all products, down-stream of an oil refinery and all activities directly or indirectly connected therewith. 

The Board, accordingly, has been providing assistance by way of (a) grants b) advancing loans to oil industrial concerns (c) making equity investment d) managing OIDB relief trust (e) contributing and managing Hydrogen Corpus Fund (HCF).

Release of Grants: OIDB has been providing assistance through Grants to its five regular grantee institutes namely Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD), Centre for High Technology (CHT), Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) and Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC). The Board is also providing capital grant to Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology (RGIPT) to meet its capital expenditure on the projects being carried out at Sivasagar, Assam and Jaes, Rae Bareilly. 

Advancing Loans: OIDB has been providing loan to oil PSUs ever since its creation in 1974-75. The quantum of loan disbursed by OIDB has increased from Rs 16.01 crore in 1974-75 to an average of about Rs 1900 crores during the recent years. GAIL, IOC, HPCL, BPCL and MRPL are the major beneficiaries of the loans released by OIDB. The loan has been primarily utilised to fund gas and oil pipeline projects, setting up of new refineries and quality improvement of existing refineries, single point mooring projects and city gas distribution projects. 

Assistance to R&D projects: To promote R&D in the oil sector, OIDB provides financial assistance to various R&D projects. Major beneficiaries of R&D grant have been Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun, National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, IIT Mumbai, Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology Chennai, Bharatidasan University, Tamil Nadu and projects of Government of Rajasthan. Besides, OIDB has also contributed Rs 40 crore towards Hydrogen Corpus Fund (HCF), which was created by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India to promote use of hydrogen as auto fuel. 

Equity investment: Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of OIDB. ISPRL is a Special Purpose Vehicle for setting up 5 million metric tons (MMT) of strategic crude oil storages at three locations namely, Visakhapatnam, Mangalore and Padur (near Udupi). These strategic storages would be in addition to the existing storages of crude oil and petroleum products with the oil companies and would serve as a cushion in response to external supply disruptions. The approved equity contribution of OIDB in ISPRL is Rs 3832.56 crore.

Skill Development: OIDB is instrumental in setting up of Hydrocarbon Sector Skill Council (HSSC) along with Petrofed. HSSC has the vision to meet diverse skill requirements of the Hydrocarbon Industry and enhancing employability and opportuni1es, locally and globally.

Relief activities: OIDB also administers OIDB Drought Relief Trust, which was created by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on 9.7.2000. About Rs 15 crores has been released from the Trust account since its creation in 2001-02.