Tehran, Iran, July 19
By A. Shirazi - Trend:
The government has so far allocated over 3,000 billion rials from domestic resources to complete Chabahar-Zahedan railroad project, the CEO of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways said.
“In the past three years, more than 3,000 billion rials have been injected by the government into Chabahar-Zahedan railroad project,” Saeed Mohammadzadeh said on July 19, ILNA news agency reported.
The cash boost offer is expediting the completion of the project, he added, noting that the project is important both for Iran and its regional neighbors.
Earlier, Indian Ambassador to Iran Saurabh Kumar said India has weighed financing provisions of the project and would soon announce its final plan.
Tehran, New Delhi and Kabul signed a trilateral agreement to develop Chabahar in Tehran in May 2016, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani paid a state visit to Iran.
The deal stipulates the development and operation of two terminals and three berths at Chabahar port with cargo handling capacities for 10 years.
Based on the agreement, Iran is to provide land in Chabahar Special Economic Zone to Indian companies for setting up petrochemical, fertilizer and other gas-based industries.
India has also agreed to build a 500-km railroad from Chabahar to Zahedan, the provincial capital of Sistan-Baluchestan, close to the Afghan border. India’s state-owned IRCON has agreed to build a rail route at a cost of $1.6 billion as part of the transit corridor to Afghanistan.
After connecting Chabahar to Zahedan, the railroad will be linked to Zaranj in Afghanistan. Hence, when the Afghan cargo arrives in Zahedan, it can be transported by a 1,380-km railroad to Chabahar and then shipped to India.