The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan visited the Chabahar Free Trade Zone and Port in Iran on Sunday to discuss facilities and incentives that could be offered for Indian companies investing there.

Pradhan, who is on a two-day visit to Iran, met with Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, Senior Advisor to the President on Free Trade Zones Akbar Torkan and Governor of Iranian Central Bank Valliolah Seif on April 9.

During the meeting, Pradhan informed the Iranian side that Indian companies could invest up to $20 billion for setting up petrochemical and fertiliser plants in Chabahar SEZ.

He requested Iran to allocate appropriate land in the SEZ and also asked for favourable treatment in the pricing of gas.

An official statement said Pradhan informed the Iranian leadership that competitive gas pricing was crucial in making the projects attractive for investors and also expressed India’s interest in setting up an LNG plant and a gas cracker unit in the Chabahar port.

“Both sides agreed to continue examining various means of evacuation of gas, such as LNG, including through the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline,” the statement added.

Pradhan also discussed developments regarding the Farzad-B gas fields and expressed confidence on concluding an agreement at the earliest.

ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas investment arm of ONGC, along with its partners Indian Oil Corporation and Oil India had made the discovery in the Farsi offshore fields in Iran in 2008.

The Farzad B block has estimated in-place reserves of 21.68 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of which 12.8 tcf of gas and 212 million barrels of condensate may be recoverable.

Pradhan’s visit comes nine years after an Indian Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas visited Iran and is the first after the economic sanctions were lifted in the West Asian country in January.

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