NEW DELHI, June 2 (UPI) -- New Delhi is said to have offered Iran the opportunity to dump billions of dollars into various economic sectors, including oil refining, talks suggest.
Bilateral talks this week focused on Iranian investments in the Indian energy sector, The Economic Times of India reports. The newspaper notes that because of bilateral trade levels, Iran might be investing as much as $12 billion per year.
The Economic Times notes that talks were inconclusive but included refining as a possible option.
New Delhi owes Iran about $2 billion for its oil. The country is getting Iranian crude on credit while it explores payment options.
New Delhi had moved cash through German bank Europaeisch-Iranische Handelsbank AG to buy oil from Iran, one of the top crude suppliers to India.
EIH received euros for the Iranian crude only when Indian importers issued notes saying the money wouldn't be used for sanctioned goods. Officials in the U.S. Treasury Department said that wasn't enough and the German bank said early this year that it stopped the payments.
India had imported about 12 million barrels of oil per month from Iran.
