MNA � Indian ambassador to Tehran, while disavowing claims of a cut in his country�s oil purchases from Iran, said the oil sale process has become even more trouble-free thanks to improvements in banking ties.


Speaking on the sidelines of Iran-India Economic Conference, Saurabh Kumar, Ambassador of India to Tehran said his country�s debts to non-governmental companies of Iran mounts to 2.5 billion dollars which will be soon settled. Existing obstacles to banking relations with Iran are not specifically limited to India as several world countries are faced with similar challenges.

He rejoiced to state that India had taken appropriate steps to enhance banking ties with Iran as evidenced by activity of Indian banks in Iran.

He later refuted the reports on a decline in India�s crude purchases from Iran saying �the process for crude purchases from Iran has now become facilitated given that India is able to transfer money to Iran.�

Naushad Forbes, Vice President of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), said a bureau of CII opened in the Iranian capital of Tehran on Tuesday. The office will assist eight to ten Indian firms in having a more active presence in the Iranian market and will also pave the path for Indian industries eager to make investments here.

�Instead of selling products, the representative office of CII will help Indian companies in conducting market analysis,� underlined the official explaining that his accompanying delegation comprised firms active in areas of biomass and renewable energy, air conditioning and industrial cooling, largest construction and manufacturing companies in addition to manufactures of special chemicals for making insulation products.

Bahman Eshghi, Secretary General of Tehran Chamber of Commerce Industries Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA), pointed to enormous economic capacities between Iran and India saying �Iran can be a major destination for Indian investors and TCCIMA will soon open a desk for the South Asian country in a bid to facilitate reinvigoration of cooperation between the two sides.�

Excluding oil transactions, volume of Iran�s exports to India mounts to 2.8 billion dollars while the figure for India�s sales to Iran stands at about two billion dollars.

Through investigation of market gaps in each side, further venues for collaboration will be revealed which will consequently lead to more rate of economic growth for both sides.

The Indian Ambassador Saurabh Kumar, for his part, said all earlier agreements reached between the two countries were being implemented. These cover various fields like hydrocarbons, oil and gas, transit and infrastructure development at Chabahar port, he continued.

At the end of his remarks, the official described the slash in visa issuance time from five to three days as a major development in facilitating commuting of trader.