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• India will make 45 percent of the payment for its oil from Iran in rupees, which Tehran will use to pay for imports from its second-biggest crude customer, the Islamic Republic's envoy to New Delhi said on Tuesday.Iran's oil sales to India have been fraught with payment problems in the past 13 months after a clearing mechanism was scrapped and Indian refiners have sought alternative supplies."A suitable mechanism has been found out. All the payment not being paid by India last year has been paid ... This was the proposal by India and we accepted it," said Seyed Mehdi Nabizadeh, adding both sides were "satisfied" with 45 percent payment in rupee.He said the two countries will find a mechanism for payment of the remaining 55 percent. The rupee is not fully convertible which means trade and payments face restrictions from the Indian central bank.
• India has been paying for its daily imports of 350,000-400,000 barrels from Iran through Turkey's Halkbanksince July last year. It buys 12 percent of its oil needs from the Islamic nation, worth about $11 billion annually.Nabizadeh said Iran will not offer a discount on crude sales to Indian refiners. "Oil prices are an international issue... The price of oil is based on a formula," he said, adding demand from Indian customers was normal.Last month, Reuters reported that India would pay for some of its oil imports in rupees via an Indian bank, resorting to the restricted currency after more than a year of payment problems following fresh, tougher U.S. sanctions.
• Iran is looking at boosting its imports from India to utilise a part of the rupee amount. Its annual imports are much smaller than the oil trade at around $2.7 billion according to latest figures from the commerce ministry.India will send a delegation to Iran this month to explore boosting exports to smooth use of the restricted rupee currency.Nabizadeh said Indian companies could look at investing in projects in Iran such as developing gas-to-liquid plants, mining, building roads and railways infrastructure and developing oil and gas fields.He also said for India, there was potential to boost exports of iron, steel, machinery, equipment, agricultural products like rice, and minerals.Iran has given till end-March to an Indian consortium headed by Oil and Natural Gas Corp's overseas investment arm to sign a deal for the development of Farzad B gas field, he said.

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