New Delhi
17 April 2007
Indian companies could invest up to Rs 1,500 crore in Iran's energy,
steel and aluminum sectors, Iranian diplomatic sources told this newspaper. They said
that the Tata group was planning to build a steel plant and another Indian company was
interested in setting up an oil refinery. It has also been "agreed in principle" that an
aluminum-manufacturing factory would be built in Iran in collaboration with an Indian
company.
A spokesman for Tata Steel confirmed that talks were on for expanding the group's
business in Iran. The company has signed an MOU with Persian Gulf Special Economic
Zone for land and other infrastructural facilities in the Special Economic Zone at Bandar
Abbas. The surge by Indian companies into Iranian market comes at a time when
American multinational Halliburton, which was headed by United States Vice President
Dick Cheney, has announced its exit from Iran to scotch speculation that it moved its
corporate headquarters from Houston to Dubai so it could quietly expand its business in
Iran.
An Iranian diplomatic source said that the president of the Iranian Chamber of
Commerce, Industries and Mines, Mr Ali Naqi Khamoushi, was recently in India to attract
investors. Mr Khamoushi, who held discussions with the representatives of National
Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco), Tata and certain other companies, has said that his
interactions in India suggested there was ample scope for bilateral cooperation.
Another Iranian diplomatic source said that Iran's private sector was moving away from
the West and turning to India and other countries in the East for investment and
cooperation. The absence of political tension between Iran and India helped, the source
added. Iran has accordingly mooted an "economic bloc" with India and certain other
countries in the region.
Iran, however, could become the next theatre of power play between New Delhi and
Beijing as India steps up engagement of the Persian Gulf country in economic sphere. A
retired diplomat, Mr MK Bhadrakumar, said that Iran was keen on fostering relations with
the East and India must step up its business ties with Iran. "[It] is the conscious political
disposition [of Iran] to foster economic relations with the East and we must make use of
this opportunity," he said.
"We are miles behind China. China was wise enough to take advantage of the corridor of
time. The Chinese helped to build the metro and other infrastructure projects in Iran.
There is enormous traffic [between Iran and China]. Malaysia, South Korea and Japan
are also involved. It is a fallacy to think that the Iranian economy is at a standstill
because of the Americans .... It is a vibrant economy. It has a stabilisation fund worth
about 40 billion dollars and half of oil money is kept aside for investment," he said.
Mr Bhadrakumar explained that the constitutional reform undertaken during the tenure of
a former Iranian president, Mr Mohammad Khatami, allowed privatisation and since then,
the Iranian state has been gradually vacating the economic sphere to enable private
investment from outside to collaborate with Iranian private sector.
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