India plans expansion of Iran's Chabahar port, mulls linking it with INSTC: Report

Chabahar port

India is planning to expand Iran's Chabahar port by supplying two more cranes.

India is also planning to link the strategically located port with the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) to boost trade with Russia and Eurasia, The Economic Times.

New consignments might be traded through the INSTC in near future, the report said.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story.

India is mulling supplying two mobile harbour cranes for the Chabahar port by the middle of 2021 to deal with the increasing traffic, The Economic Times reported. India had already supplied two similar cranes to the port earlier this year.

India's Shipping Minister Mansukh Mandaviya told Reuters in March that India might commence full-scale operations at the port by the end of May.

"I am expecting to visit Iran in April or May for the inauguration of full operations,"

Chabahar port had handled 123 vessels and 1.8 million tonnes of bulk and general cargoes from February 2019 to January 2021, Mandaviya said.

The port, situated on Iran's southeastern coast along the Gulf of Oman helps India transport goods to Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asian countries. The development of the port has been slowed by US sanctions on Iran.