After losing Chabahar rail project, India to suffer another blow in Iran gas project
- Iran would develop the field on its own and would like to involve India appropriately at a later stage, said Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs, India,
After dropping out from Chabahar rail project citing delay in funding, India is set to lose another key project in Iran.
After it was learned, that India would have no role in developing the Farzad-B gas field in Iran. "In January 2020, we were informed that in the immediate future, Iran would develop the field on its own and would like to involve India appropriately at a later stage. The matter remains under discussion,'' said Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs, India, quoted The Week.
The ambitious gas field project had been in the pipeline for the past 10 years. Last week, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Managing Director Masoud Karbasian said that a new operator had been roped in to develop the gas field, replacing India's Oil India Limited and Indian Oil Corporation.
Under the deal, India was supposed to develop the field but the work on the project was halted in 2012, following sanctions against Iran.
Earlier, Iran dropped India from Chabahar rail project citing delay in funding. Both the countries signed an agreement to construct a rail line from Chabahar port to Zahedan four years ago.
Iran drops India from Chabahar rail project
However, the entire project would be completed by March 2022 without India’s assistance, at a cost of $400 million which will be bear by the Iranian National Development Fund.
The project was under discussion between the Iranian Railways and the Indian Railways Construction Ltd (IRCON), however, India never began the work citing worries that the project could attract U.S. sanctions.
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