India to fast-track Chabahar port expansion work and rail connectivity

India plans to fast-track work on expanding the Chabahar port and providing rail links from the strategic port to Iran's border with Central Asia, a senior official said, a move aimed at countering Pakistan's China-backed Gwadar port.

- Subhash Narayan

Chabahar provides India with an alternative access point to Central Asia and Afghanistan, bypassing both Pakistan and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). This offers India greater regional connectivity and trade options, reducing its reliance on Pakistan and potentially strengthening its geopolitical influence in the region.

"We have been told by Iranian authorities that a key railway line connecting Chabahar port with Iranian railway network would be ready in a year's time. We are also on course to expanding port capacity five times to 500,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) while expecting to carry 5 million tonnes of bulk cargo this year," said Sunil Mukundan, managing director of India Ports Global Ltd (IPGL), the Indian state-owned entity which operates Shahid Beheshti terminal at Chabahar Port in Iran.