Iran Urges India to Speed Up Railway Construction

India is implementing a railway project in southern Iran under a 1.5-billion-dollar agreement signed by the two sides.

“India’s state-run Ircon company should implement, as soon as possible, the memorandum of understanding on the construction of the Chabahar-Zahedan railway signed between the two countries,” said Kheirollah Khademi, the deputy Iranian minister of housing and urban development.

According to a Farsi report by IRNA, he made the remarks during a trip to New Delhi aimed at following up on mutual agreements.

He said the construction of the railroad requires between Rls. 40 to 50 trillion (around $1 to 1.3 billion) in funding, and added, “If we want to provide this amount with local resources, it will take years to do so.”

“We should complete [the construction of] road links to ports and the country’s railway to that of Afghanistan in order to further develop [Iran’s] eastern region and complete the North-South Corridor,” said the top official.

Such a move, he added, can give fresh impetus to activities in the southern Chabahar port and bring about numerous benefits for the country.

Khademi says during his trip to New Delhi, he has sat down with several Indian officials and corporate authorities.

“In these meetings, a general agreement was reached on funding the projects,” he noted.

“We are to receive a one-billion-dollar credit line from India to produce rails in the country (Iran) and purchase related equipment and locomotives,” the senior official underlined.

He also said Iran is interested to buy locomotives from India.