Baku, Azerbaijan, May 23
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
India will invest $20 billion in the development of the Iranian south-eastern port of Chabahar, said the Indian Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari.
New Delhi is interested in development of the port in order to connect it to India's Kandla port (in the western Indian state of Maharashtra), Gadkari said, Iran's IRIB news agency reported May 23.
Linking the two ports will bring positive effects to India's economy in the long term, he added.
Gadkari further said the development of the Chabahar port will facilitate India's access to Afghanistan, Central Asia and Russia.
Iran and India signed a document on the development of Iran's key Chabahar port May 23.
The port will open a transit route to Afghanistan and Central Asia for Indian goods and products, avoiding the land route through Pakistan.
New Delhi also wants to bring gas from Central Asia to the port and then transport it to India.
Last year, India and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop the port once the international sanctions against Iran were lifted, stipulating that India would lease two docks for a period of 10 years, a move expected to cut India's crude oil and urea transportation costs by one-third.
The sanctions against Tehran were removed in January as the historic nuclear deal between Tehran and the six world powers came into force.
