'Indo-Iran oil pipeline, one of many options'

Kolkata, Feb 19: Union Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma today said Indo-Iran oil pipeline was not the only solution to the power sector, but a piece in several other options that India was looking at for stability and power security of which the Nuke deal was an important component too.

Mr Sharma addressing the Bharat Chambers of Commerce, said, ''Turkmenistan is another option. India is making investments all over the world in the oil and gas sectors like Russia, Sudan, Venezuela, Columbia and Brazil.'' ''India has a consortium in Angola. We don't know yet what kind of reserves we are sitting on. India has a growing demand on the renewables like solar, wind, tidal, bio-fuel, clean coal technology and nuclear fuel besides hydel energy,'' he added.

Asked to give a time for deciding on the Indo-Iran pipeline, he said, ''It is impossible to give a time cap on the deal. But we are exploring all possible avenues.'' '' I would like to make another thing clear. India is not a country in isolation, but a part of the global progress and civil nuclear deal is an important part of our growth,'' he said.

Mr Sharma said, ''Growth of the Indian economy will be inclusive of growth in infrastructure, agro-industry and power, making it sustainable over a period of time,'' adding India was now a trillion dollar economy.

UNI