India to keep exports to Iran

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade assured India's Electronic and Computer Software Promotion Council and makers of electronics and software that their rupee-denominated exports to Iran would receive the same incentives as those to other countries in other major currencies. "There exists scope for export to Iran a number of items from the software and hardware baskets, which that country was importing from third countries," said D. K. Sareen, the executive director of ESC. He went on to say that the opportunities for the Indian software-makers in Iran include fields such as education, e-governance, finance, oil and gas, Indian Press reported. Sareen expressed hope that Iran could be a hub for software and hardware exports from the South Asian country for penetrating further into the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. Last week, India's Ambassador to Iran D.P. Srivastava underlined New Delhi's resolve to continue oil imports from Iran despite the sanctions imposed on Iranian oil by the US and the European Union. Addressing a meeting with Tehran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines in Tehran, Srivastava stated that India is committed to continue oil imports from Iran, and reminded that the decision had already been announced by Indian Finance Minister during a visit to the US. He said that the main hurdle in Iran-India trade ties is financial transaction, but ensured that the two countries have found a mechanism to resolve the problem. "Based on the agreement between Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and India's Finance Ministry, oil payments to Iran would be made in Rupee so that the money could be used for buying goods," the envoy reiterated. Earlier this month, India announced plans to strengthen economic and trade cooperation with Tehran by sending a very big delegation of businessmen and exporters to Iran in March. India finalized a date for an Indian business delegation to visit Iran and discuss trade opportunities with Iranian officials despite the Western sanctions against Tehran. The Indian delegation, which will include businessmen and exporters from sugar production, textile machinery, tire-making and car-manufacturing sectors, is expected to be in Iran from March 10-14.