INDIA DELIVERS EQUIPMENT FOR CHABAHAR PORT’S DEVELOPMENT

NEW DELHI: India has delivered a consignment of heavy equipment, including cranes, for further development of Iran’s Chabahar port, signalling New Delhi’s commitment to the strategic connectivity project that can provide access to markets in Central Asia.

The consignment included two mobile harbour cranes of 140 tonnes, which were acquired from the Italian firm Italgru S.r.l. under a deal for a total of six cranes, people familiar with the developments said on condition of anonymity.

“The first shipment of strategic loading and unloading equipment worth $8.5 million has arrived in Chabahar port to mark the activation of the contract between the Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) and the Indian side,” said Behrouz Aghaei, director general of the ports and maritime department of Iran’s Sistan-baluchestan province.

Aghaei told Tehran Times the heavy equipment will be installed at Shahid Beheshti terminal at Chabahar port, which is operated by India.

Hindustan Times had first reported last month that the cranes were set to be delivered in January, months after India cancelled a $30-million contract with Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries for heavy cranes because of delays by the Chinese company in supplying the equipment ordered in 2017

In May 2016, India Ports Global and Iran’s Aria Banader Iranian Port and Marine Services Company signed a deal to equip and operate the Shahid Behesti terminal, with a capital investment of $85.21 million and annual revenue expenditure of $22.95 million, on a 10-year lease.

THE CONSIGNMENT INCLUDED TWO MOBILE HARBOUR CRANES OF 140 TONNES, WHICH WERE ACQUIRED FROM AN ITALIAN FIRM