BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 20. Iran’s Rasht-Anzali (Caspian port) in Gilan Province (northern Iran), is planned to be put into operation, during the first six months of the next Iranian year (March 21, 2023 through March 19, 2024), Iranian Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development, and CEO of Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructure Company (CDTIC), Kheirollah Khademi told Mehr News Agency, Trend reports.
“At present, 75 percent of the construction work on the mentioned railway line has been completed,” he said.
Khademi added that this railway line is one of the most important railway lines of the country from the economic point of view. He also pointed out that the 35-km long railway line is located on the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
Within the last Iranian year (March 21, 2021 through March 20, 2022), Iranian government decided to allocate funds worth 6.5 trillion rials (about $155 million) for the construction of the Rasht-Caspian railway line. Of this, 2 trillion rials (about $47.6 million) has been provided.
“Another 3 trillion rials (about $71.4 million) has been allocated to complete the construction of this railway line,” Khademi noted.
The foundation of the ‘International North-South Transport Corridor’ was laid on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement signed between Russia, Iran, and India on September 12, 2000. In total, 13 countries have ratified the agreement, including Azerbaijan, India, Iran, Russia, Türkiye, etc.
The purpose of creating a corridor is to reduce the delivery time of cargo from India to Russia, as well as to North and West Europe. Delivery time on the current route is more than 6 weeks, it is expected to be reduced to 3 weeks via North-South Transport Corridor.
---
Follow the author on Twitter:@BaghishovElnur