Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct.28
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran will use 22 billion of Indian rupees to buy 250,000 metric tons of rails, to expand its rail grid, Iran's Mehr news agency reported on October 28.
The proposal, approved by Iran's Council for Economy, was originally made by the Ministry of Transport and Urban Development of Iran. The plan is aimed to expand and renovate Iran's national rail network with the goal of boosting the country's rail transportation capacity.
Iran's Council for Economy consists of several ministers, Tehran Chamber of commerce members, the Custom Administration head, several member of parliaments, etc.
India is Iran's second big oil importer, but have faced difficulties to pay off its debts from burying Iranian oil due to sanctions imposed on Iran. Both countries have agreed to 45 percent of oil revenues be paid off through rupee currency and the remained revenue be deposited to an Iranian bank account in India.
The U.S. sanctions don't allow Iranian oil customers to do Iranian oil payments in any currency, but Iran can purchase commodities from only that country to import.
India is exploring the possibility of helping build more railway lines in Iran - in addition to the Chabahar railway project- to connect their manufacturing and mining centers to their ports, previous reports said.
Project exports from India to Iran in the railway sector will include supplying and laying of tracks, building signaling systems, carrying out electrical work and upgrading existing rail operations.
The Iranian government, according to reports, is planning to expand the country's railway network annually by 500-1,000 km to ensure it reaches 25,000 km by 2025 from the current 13,000 km.
Mehr news agency reported earlier that Iran had sought Indian investment in massively expanding its railway network and needs about 3 million metric tons of steel rails to connect all major cities, industrial centers and also ports for faster evacuation of goods.