India Ready to Invest $20bn in Iranian Energy Sector

New Delhi is ready to invest $20 billion for development of energy and petrochemical projects in Iran's Chabahar Port, Indian oil minister said Saturday in Tehran.

Dharmendra Pradhan said that Iran-India relationships in energy sector is no longer limited to oil imports, Iranian oil ministry linked news agency Shana reported. 

"India is prepared to develop Chabahar Port and I will pay a visit to the region on Sunday," Indian oil minister Pradhan said.

Pradhan is in Tehran heading a delegation of major private sector representatives from oil, gas, and energy sectors.

India is also looking to discuss development of Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf that was discovered by India’s ONGC Videsh, the overseas arm of the India’s state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. Apart from this, New Delhi is interested in importing Iranian gas via undersea pipeline bypassing Pakistan. 

Indian company South Asia Gas Enterprise Pvt. Ltd. (SAGE India) has proposed to build the undersea pipeline. The SAGE pipeline would originate at Chabahar on the southern coast of Iran and Ras Al-Jafan on the Oman coast, and after traversing deep in the Arabian Sea, would bring gas to Porbandar in south Gujarat.

In December last year, National Iranian Gas Export Co (NIGEC) Managing Director Alireza Kameli said at the World Energy Policy Summit in New Delhi that negotiations regarding the Iran-India undersea gas pipeline are under serious consideration.