India to clear dues worth $6.5 billion to Iran in tranches: Rajiv Mehrishi, Finance Secretary

NEW DELHI: India will clear $6.5 billion of dues it owes to Iran for oil import in tranches, with the first installment going out as early as in a week, Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi has said.

"What is due to them, must be paid to them. It will not be one single bullet of $6.5 billion. It will be (in) tranches. They also don't want as bullet, they also want it in some kind of tranches. So we are working out with Iran," he told PTI in an interview here.

Mehrishi, who had late last month, led a high level delegation to Iran to discuss payment options, indicated that the payments can be in a combination of US dollar or euro and Indian rupees.

"It will obviously be partly in dollars, partly in rupee. It could be euro also. Partly hard currency, partly rupee. Exact division is yet to be decided," he said when asked about the mode of payment gateway.

He, however, refused to elaborate on options being explored, saying "it is being worked out."

Since February 2013, refiners like Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) and Essar Oil have been paying 45 per cent of payment due on purchase of crude oil from Iran in rupees through Uco Bank, Kolkata.

The remaining has been accumulating, pending finalisation of a payment route and mechanism. They had last year paid nearly $3 billion in six installments through a limited payment channel following start of nuclear talks between the Western world and Iran.

The outstanding has since climbed to over $6.5 billion.

Essar Oil owes USD 3.34 billion, MRPL ($2.49 billion) and Indian Oil Corp ($581 million) to Iran.

"We are prepared to pay Iran whatever is due to them. We are not uncomfortable with any level of payment at all. We will make sure that happens in a calibrated fashion. All this money has been earmarked for them.