India to invest 20 bln USD to develop Iran's Chabahar port

India has expressed its intention to invest 20 billion U.S. dollars to develop Iran's Chabahar port and sought land from Tehran in the port's special economic zone, local media reported Monday.

This was conveyed by Indian Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan at a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Bijan Zangeneh in Tehran Saturday, nearly two years after India and Iran had inked a pact to jointly develop the port, reports said.

"Dharmendra Pradhan conveyed to Iranian side that Indian companies could invest up to 20 billion U.S. dollars and were interested in setting up petrochemical and fertiliser plants, including in the Chabahar SEZ," the media quoted a statement by state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.

"In this regard, he requested Iran to allocate appropriate and adequate land in the SEZ. He also expressed India's interest in setting up a LNG plant and a gas cracker in the Chabahar port," the statement added.

The Indian Minister has also urged the Iranian side for "favourable treatment in the pricing of gas for India and also supply of rich gas at competitive price" and on long-term basis for the life of the joint venture projects that Indian companies are interested in setting up," the ONGC said.
Source: Xinhua