India has said it won't cut down its oil imports from Iran, apparently making it clear that it would not buckle to any pressure from the U.S. or western countries which have imposed sanctions on Tehran, Xinhua reported. "It is not possible for India to take any decision to reduce the imports from Iran drastically, because among the countries which can provide the requirement of the emerging economies, Iran is an important country amongst them," Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said. "India imports 110 million tons of crude India has said it won't cut down its oil imports from Iran, apparently making it clear that it would not buckle to any pressure from the U.S. or western countries which have imposed sanctions on Tehran, Xinhua reported. "It is not possible for India to take any decision to reduce the imports from Iran drastically, because among the countries which can provide the requirement of the emerging economies, Iran is an important country amongst them," Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.per year. We will not decrease imports from Iran. Iran is an important country for India despite U.S. and European sanctions on Iran," said Mukherjee.
Mukherjee noted other countries that contribute, like Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and othe Gulf countries, "but Iran contributes substantially".
Earlier, Mukherjee said Indian firms have paid the first installment of their Iran oil debts. India and Iran have resolved the issue over payments, he said, triggered at end-December when the Reserve Bank of Indian scrapped a long-standing regional clearing house mechanism under the US pressure.
Indian refiners' debts to Iran for some 400,000 barrels per day of crude had mounted towards $5 billion but a new mechanism put in place recently has allowed them to start payments.
On August 1, the National Iranian Oil Company said the two sides had agreed to settle the bill as soon as possible and the payments would be made in two parts.
Early this week, Indian refiners have paid about $1.43 billion through Turkey's Halkbank.
Indian companies are first clearing debts whose credit period has expired. Iran normally sells oil to Indian clients with 90 days credit.
Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, Iran's biggest Indian client, has paid about one billion euros ($1.42 billion), reducing its debt that had not been paid on time to $1.2 billion, said one of the sources, who all requested anonymity.
India, the world's fourth-largest oil consumer, imports 12 percent of its petroleum products from Iran./Trend/