“We can complete the work on the first phase of the project in 2018… The funds are likely to be released shortly. Tenders are out for the project,” Gadkari told to Press Trust of India.
Kandla Port floated global tender inviting bids for heavy duty equipment and other hardware required at Shahid Beheshti Port in Chabahar.
The Indian Cabinet has already approved funds for the project. Last year, the Cabinet cleared proposals, including a credit of US$ 150 million from the Export-Import Bank of India for encouraging trade and investment flow. It also authorized the Ministry of Shipping to create a company in Iran to oversee the implementation of the Chabahar Port Development Project and other technicalities.
India and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding in May 2016, which lets India to equip and operate two berths in Chabahar Port Phase-I with a capital investment of US$ 85.21 million and annual revenue expenditure of US$ 22.95 million on a 10-year lease. After 10 years, the ownership of equipment will be transferred to the Iranian partner.
In addition to the bilateral project on the Chabahar Port, a trilateral Agreement on Transport and Transit Corridor has also been signed by India, Afghanistan and Iran.
Experts believe that the Chabahar Port, as well as the Trilateral agreement, could pave the way for India to leverage it against China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative and the Gwadar Port.
“While in the immediate term India’s association with the Chabahar Port gives it a huge strategic and commercial foothold in the Persian Gulf, a long-term view emerging is that it could be used as a bargaining chip to make China more amenable to cooperate with us,” Jagannath Panda, Fellow at the New Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, told Sputnik.
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