Pradip Shah's IndAsia Fund Advisors and Iranian Middle East Bank have formed a joint venture to explore investment opportunities between India and Iran.
The deal comes ahead of the June 30 deadline for a possible accord between the six world powers and Iran, which both sides hope to end a 12-year nuclear dispute and terminate the economic sanctions against Tehran.
The new venture is called MEB-IndAsia Corporate Advisors Pvt. "It will advise companies on trade and investment opportunities between Iran and India," Shah, founder of IndAsia, a boutique investment bank said, The Economic Times reported on Monday.
The venture hopes to enlist Indian companies to do business in Iran, which has a population of 78 million. Iran has the capacity to pay with its oil production capacity of four million barrels per day; however, it is currently pumping much less than that.
Iran has $8.8 billion of interest-free funds lying idle in India because of the sanctions. These could possibly be a source of foreign direct investment in India that the venture hopes to tap, the report said.
"Iran will offer exciting opportunities for trade and investment soon, as a framework for lifting sanctions is expected to be signed between the US and Iran by June 30," said
