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North-South corridor will save freight and time: The Hindu
New Delhi, Jan 26: Coinciding with the visit of the Iranian President, Syed Mohammad Khatami, to India, a large industrial delegation from that country is currently here to discuss bilateral economic matters.
New Delhi, Jan 26: Coinciding with the visit of the Iranian President, Syed Mohammad Khatami, to India, a large industrial delegation from that country is currently here to discuss bilateral economic matters.
Under discussion are issues such as $ 800 million joint investment by 400 Indian and Iranian companies, creation of a north-south corridor — stretching from India to Russia via Iran and Turkmenistan, and extension of a $ 200 million credit line to Iran for infrastructure development.
Participating in a meeting organised by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), the Union Minister for Shipping, Ved Prakash Goyal, indicated that the proposed corridor between India and Russia via Iran might be extended up to Colombo and the southeast Asian countries as well.
While the corridor would result in savings of 20-30 per cent freight cost and reduction in transportation time of 15 days, Mr. Goyal said Sri Lanka and some of the southeast Asian countries had shown interest to be part of the corridor. Mr. Goyal said an agreement between Bandar Abbas port in Iran and the Mumbai and Kandla port authorities was being worked out for favourable treatment to shipment of goods between the two ports. India, Iran and Turkmenistan had signed an agreement on international transit of goods in 2000, which had led to increased movement of cargo from India to the central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan.
At present, cargo between India and the Russian Federation is shipped through the Baltic ports of St. Petersburg and Kotka, the European port of Rotterdam and through the Ukrainian Black Sea ports of Illychevsk and Odessa. As such, there was an urgent need to seek better alternative means of transportation, which would be cost-effective and faster, Mr. Goyal said.
"The transit trade through Iran is feasible both from the commercial and logistics point of view. Iran has a well- developed transport infrastructure in the form of roads, railways and ports," he said, adding that the corridor should facilitate door-to-door delivery, utilising multi-modal transport by the sea route, roads and railways.
Iran proposed that the North-South corridor could be utilised for transferring 5,000 tonnes of tea produced by blending Indian and Iranian tea for consumption in the Russian market. Another proposal, for transiting one million tonnes of India wheat for Afghanistan through Iran, would also be taken up soon, it was announced at the meeting.
Similarly, the outcome of the official-level talks between India and Iran on the oil and gas pipeline, trade in pharmaceuticals, automobiles, food and food products as well as cooperation in the information technology area, would be reviewed at the next meeting of the Indo-Iran Joint Business Council.
Participating in a meeting organised by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), the Union Minister for Shipping, Ved Prakash Goyal, indicated that the proposed corridor between India and Russia via Iran might be extended up to Colombo and the southeast Asian countries as well.
While the corridor would result in savings of 20-30 per cent freight cost and reduction in transportation time of 15 days, Mr. Goyal said Sri Lanka and some of the southeast Asian countries had shown interest to be part of the corridor. Mr. Goyal said an agreement between Bandar Abbas port in Iran and the Mumbai and Kandla port authorities was being worked out for favourable treatment to shipment of goods between the two ports. India, Iran and Turkmenistan had signed an agreement on international transit of goods in 2000, which had led to increased movement of cargo from India to the central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan.
At present, cargo between India and the Russian Federation is shipped through the Baltic ports of St. Petersburg and Kotka, the European port of Rotterdam and through the Ukrainian Black Sea ports of Illychevsk and Odessa. As such, there was an urgent need to seek better alternative means of transportation, which would be cost-effective and faster, Mr. Goyal said.
"The transit trade through Iran is feasible both from the commercial and logistics point of view. Iran has a well- developed transport infrastructure in the form of roads, railways and ports," he said, adding that the corridor should facilitate door-to-door delivery, utilising multi-modal transport by the sea route, roads and railways.
Iran proposed that the North-South corridor could be utilised for transferring 5,000 tonnes of tea produced by blending Indian and Iranian tea for consumption in the Russian market. Another proposal, for transiting one million tonnes of India wheat for Afghanistan through Iran, would also be taken up soon, it was announced at the meeting.
Similarly, the outcome of the official-level talks between India and Iran on the oil and gas pipeline, trade in pharmaceuticals, automobiles, food and food products as well as cooperation in the information technology area, would be reviewed at the next meeting of the Indo-Iran Joint Business Council.