India said on Sunday that it has started a major project to develop Iran's southeastern port of Chabahar, adding that the port will be made operational by December next year. ��

"Work has already begun on the Chabahar port,� said Nitin Gadkari, India�s minister of road transport, highways and shipping.

�There is a joint venture of Kandla Port Trust (KPT) and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT). We will start port activities in a year or a year-and-a-half," he added.

Gadkari said a draft agreement will be signed within a month in this regard. "I have given the orders to bring out tenders for purchasing cranes for the port. An agreement will be signed within a month," he has been quoted as saying by Indian media.

The project is seen as rival to a similar plan that China is pushing ahead in Pakistan�s Gwadar.

Iran and India expect the development of Chabahar will create an economic corridor toward Afghanistan and Central Asia that bypasses Pakistan.

Access to Afghanistan's Garland Highway can be made from Chahbahar port using the existing Iranian road network and the Zaranj-Delaram road, constructed by India in 2009.

This would establish a direct road access to four of the major cities of Afghanistan - Herat, Kandahar, Kabul, and Mazar-e-Sharif.

The port will be also used to ship crude oil and urea, saving India transportation costs. It will also cut transport costs and freight time for India to Central Asia as well as the Persian Gulf by about a third.

By Press TV