Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal on 20 August visited the Shahid Behestti port at Chabahar in Iran to review the progress in the development of the port.
Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways in a statement said that in an effort to invigorate the potential of Chabahar port, Mr. Sonowal also handed over Six mobile harbour cranes to Indian Ports Global Chabahar Free Trade Zone at the port.
Since India Ports Global Private Limited assumed operations of Shahid Beheshti Port, it has handled over 4.8 million tonnes of bulk cargo.
About Chabahar Port
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. It is only about 170 kilometres west of the Pakistani port of Gwadar.
India and Iran first agreed to plans to further develop Shahid Beheshti port in 2003, but did not do so on account of sanctions against Iran. As of 2016, the port has ten 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.
In October 2017, India’s first shipment of wheat to Afghanistan was sent through the Chabahar Port. In December 2018, India took over the port’s operations.