Focus Merit

Iran drops India from Chabahar Rail Project due to funding delay

  • Iran has dropped India from the Chabahar rail project, for the construction of railway line from Chabahar port to Zahedan, along the Iran-Afghanistan border.
  • The reason that Iran gave for dropping India was delays from the Indian side in funding and starting the construction of the project.
  • Iran has now decided to move ahead with the construction of Chabahar railway line to Zahedan on its own.
  • For this $400 million will be sanctioned by the Iranian National Development Fund and the entire project will be completed by March 2022, without any assistance from India.
  • It must be noted that this decision has been taken by Iran at a time when it is seeking to finalise a 25-year economic and security partnership with China worth $400 billion.