Iran plans to export 6,000 megawatt-hours of electricity to India and Pakistan, according to Iranian Energy Minister Majid Namjou.

Namjou made the remarks after a meeting with Indian Power Minister Moodbidri Veerappa Moily in New Delhi on Tuesday, IRNA reported.

Namjou said that technical teams from the Islamic Republic of Iran and India will hold meetings to draw up plans for the export of 4,000 megawatt-hours of electricity to India and 2,000 megawatt-hours to Pakistan.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the two ministers also emphasized the need to expand bilateral cooperation in the energy sector.

Namjou, who is on a four-day official visit to India at the invitation of the country’s New and Renewable Energy Ministry, arrived in New Delhi on Monday.

The Iranian Energy Ministry announced on September 11 that the country had exported a total of 5,290 gigawatt-hours of electricity to neighboring countries since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 20, 2012), which was a 46 percent rise compared with the previous year.


Electricity consumption has decreased considerably in Iran since the implementation of the subsidy reform plan, which paved the way for more electricity exports to Azerbaijan, Armenia, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

The subsidy reform plan, which began in late 2010, has enabled the Iranian government to begin to gradually reduce energy subsidies over the course of five years, with low-income families compensated with direct cash handouts.

Iran seeks to become a major regional exporter of electricity and has attracted more than $1.1 billion in investments for the construction of three new power plants.
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News ID 182997