During their open session on Sunday, lawmakers approved a bill that allows the Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company (IGEDC), which is affiliated to the Oil Ministry, to launch arbitration and pursue its claims in cooperation with the presidential deputy office for legal affairs.
Mostafa Nakhaie, who is the head of the Iranian parliament’s energy committee, explained the details of the dispute between the Iranian gas company and the state-run Indian trade firm.
He said that they signed a $2.5 billion contract in 2013, which was in effect for three years and obliged the Indian side to sell 2.5 million metric tons of steel sheets to the Iranian company.
Based on the contract, the IGEDC agreed to pay $125 million in advance, the MP said.
He added that the advance payment was made out of selling crude oil by the Iranian Oil Ministry to Indian firm SR Avil Mill who transferred the money to S.R. Steels, the manufacturer of the steel sheets required by the IGEDC.
However, over three years, the Indian side delivered only 18 consignments of steel sheets weighing 470,000 metric tons to Iran, which was nearly one-fifth of the amount it was committed to provide under the contract, Nakhaie explained.
He said that based on Article 139 of the Iranian Constitution, the IGEDC should pursue the case through an arbitration authority in Singapore, for which the company required the Iranian parliament’s approval.
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