India eyes Iran's port project with $20bln investment

India is ready to invest 20 billion US dollars in the development of Iran's southeastern port of Chabahar, India's visiting Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was quoted as saying by Press TV on Sunday.

"India is prepared to develop Chabahar Port and I will pay a visit to the region," Pradhan said in the capital Tehran after meeting his Iranian counterpart Bijan Namdar Zangeneh.

He said that his country aims to expand its bilateral relations with Iran in various fields, including energy and industry, and importing crude oil, according to Tehran Times.

The Indian minister said that the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on Saturday to jointly cooperate on developing Iran's Farzad-B gas field, collaborating in refinery projects, Iran's exports of crude oil and oil products to India, and cooperation in petrochemical industry.

The Iranian oil minister, for his part, put Iran's daily volume of crude oil exports to India at 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) and expressed hope that the amount will boost after the total removal of international sanctions against Iran.

According to Press TV, Iran and India agreed to develop Chabahar port in 2003. 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 were lifted.

Chabahar is located in the Gulf of Oman on the border with Pakistan. India's move to develop Chabahar port would enable New Delhi to establish a strategic connectivity to Afghanistan as well as Central Asia.