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Indian companies to partner Iran in port, & rail projects
2004 November 16
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Indian private and public sector companies will undertake two major port and railway projects in Iran to facilitate better trade with Russia, Central Asia and Afghanistan.
"The feasibility studies will determine the exact cost and the time frame of the projects to be implemented by the Indian companies jointly with the Iranian partners," M. S. Dolatabadi, commercial counselor of the Iranian embassy, told.
In the first case, a consortium of Ashok Leyland Project Services Ltd (ALPS) and Larsen & Toubro Ltd. will join hands with Iran's Ports and Shipping Organization to undertake expansion of the Chabahar port in the Oman Sea near Gawadar port in Pakistan. Both sides would invest equally in the project.
The second is a 600 km railway project to be undertaken by Ashok Leyland Project Services in consortium with IRCON and RITES, the consultancy wings of the Indian Railways, for the state-owned Iranian Railway Company.
"The memorandum of understanding of both the projects has been signed and they will take off once the feasibility studies have been completed. Both the projects will be on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis," said Dolatabadi.
Development of the Chabahar port is part of a tripartite agreement between Iran, India and Russia to set up the North-South transit corridor to facilitate faster movement of cargo and cut down costs.
"The proposal to expand the capacity of Chabahar port to handle ships of large capacities of 80,000 to 100,000 tons as against 20,000 tons will meet part of the commitment under the North-South Corridor plan," the official said.
The project is to be completed by 2007 at an estimated cost of $100-200 million.
The estimated $300 million railway project would link Chabahar port with Fahraj near the Afghanistan border.
"The railway link project is a priority for India as it will provide India alternate access to Afghanistan from Iran without entering through Bandar Abbas in the Persian Gulf," Dolatabadi said.
The route from Mumbai to Chabahar port is much shorter than Bandar Abbas that takes one week and adds to transportation costs.
"The rail and port project would help to boost transshipment of non-oil goods both to the CIS countries and to Afghanistan," said Dolatabadi.
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Khuzestan Steel Company to boost production capacity
2004 November 16
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The Khuzestan Steel Company will increase its production capacity to four million tons per year by the end of the Fourth Development Plan (March 2010).
Deputy Head of the company Eidi Mohammad Korousnejad told IRNA here Monday that the production capacity of the Khuzestan Steel Company has been estimated at 3.2 million tons in the Third Development Plan (March 2000-March 2005), 2.4 million tons of which have been materialized due to a halt in implementation of some development projects.
The company's first development phase will increase the production capacity from 2.4 million tons to 3.2 million tons a year.
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Country imports steel, Private sector ignored
2004 November 15
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The country will have to import steel as long as the government continues its inattention to private steel companies, a steel industry expert said, adding that existing laws must be reformed if the private sector's role in the national steel production is to increase.
Mohammad Reza Esmail-Pour told that private steel companies can greatly contribute in achieving the objectives of the fourth development plan (2005-2010) in increasing annual steel production capacity to over 20 mln tons.
"By the next three years, more than three mln tons of steel is planned to be exported to regional countries," he said, adding that the national steel production capacity has now exceeded 11 mln tons.
He said Iran has 3 bln tons of proven iron ore reserves and that there in no reason why the country must import five million tons of steel per annum.
Steel prices in Iran are at least 15% below the international rate. Iran-made steel is of high quality.
Experts contend almost daily changes in steel import tariffs would make it impossible to attain production targets, noting instabilities in steel import policies have discouraged investments in the sector.
State sector currently accounts for more than 90% of the domestic steel production.
Iran is the 21st largest steel producer in the world.
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Steel output up 11.3% in March-October 2004
2004 November 11
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Iran`s steel output rose by about 11.3 percent to more than 5.15 million tons during March 20- Oct. 21, 2004, said a Ministry of Industries and Mines report on Wednesday.
The Ministry`s Public Relations Department said 2,282,000 tons of hot roll and 464,000 tons of cold roll were produced, showing 30.9 percent and 31.6 percent increases respectively.
Furthermore, about 890,000 tons of iron bars and 1,438,000 tons of rods were produced in this period.
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