TEHRAN (TCA) — India says it is ready to invest $20 billion in the development of Iran’s southeastern Chabahar port in a move that would enable New Delhi to establish a strategic connectivity to Afghanistan and Central Asia, Iran’s PressTV news agency reported on April 10.
The announcement of the ambitious investment was made by India’s Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Tehran after the meeting with his Iranian counterpart Bijan Zangeneh last Saturday.
In 2003, Iran and India agreed to develop Chabahar port. However, the project was later suspended following the introduction of international sanctions against Iran.
In May 2014, India and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly develop the port once the international sanctions against Iran are lifted. Both sides agreed to allow India lease two docks at the port for a period of 10 years, a move that was meant to cut India’s crude oil and urea transportation costs by around 30 percent.
Chabahar is located in the Gulf of Oman on the border with Pakistan. It is the closest and best access point of Iran to the Indian Ocean and Iran has devised serious plans to turn it into a transit hub for immediate access to markets in the northern part of the Indian Ocean and Central Asia.
India is also relying on the prospects of establishing rail links from Chabahar to Afghanistan and thereon to Central Asia.
Nevertheless, the project has not been moving smoothly over the past years.
Iranian officials said last October that a deadline for India to decide over investing in the project was way over and New Delhi had not yet informed Tehran about its final decision.
Iranian officials said last October that China was also looking to prospects of investing in the project.
