Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said Saturday that India owes $6 billion to Iran since the beginning of sanctions.
Zanganeh's remarks came during a meeting with his Indian counterpart Dharmendra Pradhan in Tehran.
'We are exporting 350 thousand barrel oil per day to India. India has an unpaid debt to Iran with the amount of $6 billion, since the start of economic sanctions imposed on Iran,' Zanganeh said.
He added Iran signed an exploration and marketing agreement with India to cooperate in the Ferzad-B field.
Regarding Zanganeh's recall, his Indian counterpart Pradhan said: 'We conducted negotiations with the governor of Iranian Central Bank to transfer Iranian oil money to Iran through the bank.'
The P5+1 that includes China, France, Russia, the U.K., the U.S., plus Germany, reached a deal with Tehran last July to curb Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for the relief of crippling economic sanctions.
After the sanctions lift, the development of Iran's industry is one of Tehran's main targets. To this end, Iran has steadily increased its production capacity, reaching 3.13 million barrels per day of oil in February, an increase of 187 thousand b/d from January.
Reporting by Mustafa Melih Ahishali
Writing by Muhsin Baris Tiryakioglu
Anadolu Agency
muhsin.tiryakioglu@aa.com.tr