THE Essar group
intends to increase import of crude from Iran and export
of steel - produced by Essar Steel - to the West Asian
country in a big way.
This is apart from the Indian industry's
overall attempt to increase exports to Iran as the balance
of trade is currently heavily tilted in its favour.
The
Chairman of the Essar Group, Mr Shashikant N. Ruia, told
Business Line: ``We will be exploring the possibility of
increasing our trade with Iranian companies in general.
''Mr Ruia is
a member of the high-powered trade delegation of the Federation
of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) to
Iran.
This delegation's visit is set to coincide with the
visit of the Indian Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
to Iran.
Mr Ruia said: "Though I have nothing very
specific in my mind at the moment, we will try to increase
our trade with Iranian companies. We already export a
lot of steel to Iran and still there is more demand.
As of now, we export around 2 lakh tonnes of steel to
Iran. We would like to increase this figure though it
is not possible to quantify by how much it would be.The
import of more crude is also an important issue that
we will be looking into seriously.'' he said.
The Essar group,
having interests in oil, steel, shipping, telecom, software
and construction project exports, has trade relations with
many countries.
According to industry analysts, the Essar
group is increasing its focus on foreign trade as forex
earnings could play a crucial role by contributing to its
bottomline and improving cash flow for domestic investment
plans.
CORPORATE