• India has supplied a consignment of two Mobile Harbour Cranes (MHC) to Iran’s Chabahar port, with a total contract value of over USD 25 Million under a contract agreement for supply of 6 MHC.

    • The consignment of cranes arrived from Marghera port, Italy has been unloaded successfully on 18th January, 2021 at Chabahar port and presently undergoing trials run.

    • With 140 metric tons lifting capacity, multipurpose equipment and accessories like Mobile Harbour Cranes (MHC) will enable India Ports Global Limited (IPGL) to provide seamless services for Container, Bulk and General Cargo at Shahid Beheshti Port of Chabahar.

    • This is a step towards India’s commitment towards infrastructure development of ‎Shahid Beheshti Port of Chabahar.

    • The bilateral contract between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Republic of India was signed on 23rd May 2016 with a total value of USD 85 million ‎for Equipping, Mechanizing and starting Operations at Shahid Beheshti Port of Chabahar development Phase- I.

    • To achieve this ambitious aim, an SPV namely India Ports Global Limited (IPGL) Mumbai was incorporated under the ambit of the Ministry of Ports, ‎Shipping and Waterways.

    • Development of Chabahar port is the anchor for the expansion of economic and mutual relations between India and Iran and it will give a further boost to the maritime trade between both the countries.

    • The location of Chabahar Port has strategically advantage and high potential to provide connectivity among India, Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and other CIS countries especially Eastern CIS countries to increase trade between these countries.

Chabahar Port is a seaport in Chabahar located in southeastern Iran, on the Gulf of Oman. It serves as Iran's only oceanic port, and consists of two separate ports named Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti, each of which has five berths.

In May 2016, India and Iran signed a bilateral agreement in which India would refurbish one of the berths at Shahid Beheshti port, and reconstruct a 600-meter-long container handling facility at the port. The port is partly intended to provide an alternative for trade between India and Afghanistan as it is 800 kilometers closer to the border of Afghanistan than Pakistan's Karachi port.

The port will give India access to Afghanistan and beyond to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Europe via 7,200-km-long multi-modal North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC).

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants. The views expressed here are personal.)