India pays 1.5bn euro to Iran for oil

India has paid 1.5 billion euros to clear pending dues for oil imports from Iran, reported ILNA.

"Pending dues of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) are now being cleared and as of March 1, 2011, payment of Euro 1.5 billion has been made to the Central Bank of Iran," S Jaipal Reddy told lawmakers in a written reply on Thursday.
"Consequent to the withdrawal of the Asian Clearing Union mechanism by the RBI with effect from December 23, 2010, all payments to Iran for the import of crude oil have to be settled in any permitted currency outside the ACU mechanism," he said.
Oil deals with Iran -- worth about USD 12 billion a year -- run from April to March.
Reddy said India imported 424,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from Iran in 2009/10 and about 178,000 bpd during April-September.