TALEQAN, Tehran, Aug. 27--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad here on Sunday inaugurated Taleqan Dam which also has the world’s first underwater power plant.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, which was also attended by Chinese ambassador to Iran, he said that the Energy Ministry is not restricted in the use of foreign financial resources.
According to ILNA, the president added, “This year, we will implement development projects at a cost of 150,000 billion rials, and if we expedite the process in the next ten years, we may be able to construct 70 percent of the country’s infrastructural installations.“
If a project takes 15 years to complete, he noted, costs will double and affect other development projects.
Ahmadinejad stressed that both the government and Majlis must put in efforts to expedite development projects without compromising quality, adding that the government is ready to work round the clock to complete development projects. This, he said, requires coordination with and cooperation of the Majlis.
Pointing to the water sector, the president stated that although numerous measures have been taken, many projects remain unimplemented. “We have skilled groups in the water sector and conditions should be created for them to perform faster.“
He said that Taleqan Dam will add 10 billion cubic meters to the country’s water resources, but completion of downstream networks should be prioritized.
“With the implementation of Taleqan dam project, 1.5 million hectares of farmlands will come under irrigation and we will not need to import many agricultural products.“
Generating each megawatt of electricity costs one million dollars, so consumers should economize on electricity, he noted.
The president concluded that according to plans, 15 dams were supposed to be constructed, but he hoped that through further efforts, mangers and experts will build 20 dams and power plants.
Taleqan underwater power plant is constructed beneath Taleqan lake, located 120km northwest of the capital Tehran. Its capacity is 17.8MW.
Taleqan dam and power plant are part of a multipurpose project, designed to be implemented in several phases to make use of the potentials of Shahroud river.
The first phase of the project involving the construction of Sangban diversion dam, which channels water from Taleqan valley to Ziyaran, as well as Ziyaran diversion dam became operational over 30 years ago.
The second phase included construction of canals to channel water from Ziyaran to Tehran.
The third phase, which was launched in 2001 by Tehran Regional Water Company and a Chinese partner, included the construction of Taleqan reservoir dam and power plant under an agreement worth $142.9 million.

Per capita cement usage will increase by 7.5 percent per annum to reach 834 kilograms in 2011.

TEHRAN, Aug. 27--Energy Minister Parviz Fattah said here on Sunday that the first shipment of imported cement is expected to reach by late September, adding that the consignment will be used for development projects.
“Some 100,000 tons of cement will be imported by the ministry for use in development projects,“ he said, adding that the initiative will be pursued on a trial basis as imported cement costs more than domestically-produced cement.
He said the government will pay the balance between domestic and international prices of cement to the ministry, adding that the Energy Ministry could import one million tons in the next stage.
The country is faced with severe shortage and skyrocketing prices of construction materials, particularly cement and iron.
Experts say per capita cement usage will increase by 7.5 percent per annum to reach 834 kilograms in 2011. They contend that demand is also expected to stand at 62 million tons a year in the period.
Per capita production is expected to rise by 130 percent to exceed one ton in 2011 against the figure for 2004.
Demand has already overtaken supply in the current year. However, the industry is expected to face surplus supply from 2008, when cement market will become competitive.
Experts say cement shortages will be overcome, once factories work at 100 percent of their nominal capacity.
Cement production capacity has declined in the past five years due to dilapidated machinery.

TEHRAN, Aug. 27--The project to construct a modern steel plant in the northwestern city of Mianeh was launched on Sunday, reported Mehr news agency.
It quoted the head of Iran Mines and Mineral Industries Development and Renovation Organization as saying at the opening ceremony that some three trillion rials will be invested in the project, which is part of the seven major steel industry plans whose executive operations will begin in coming days.
Ahmad Ali Harati-Nik said that once operational, the 800,000-ton-capacity Mianeh Steel Mills will help improve the industry remarkably.
Mohammad Rahim Rostami, managing director of Iran’s National Steel Company, said at the same function that the steel mill will supply raw material for the giant Azarbaijan Steel Complex.
He said that Mianeh Steel Mills will employ latest technologies, adding that foreign companies are responsible for implementing 40 percent of the project.
The project will become operational within three years.
He said the private sector will hold 51 percent stake in the project.
Steel prices have gone up drastically in recent months.
Experts say the only way to bring down the prices of steel would be through increasing imports.
Managing director of Khuzestan Steel Company, Abbas Verdinejad, told IRNA earlier that steel imports remain low because of fluctuations in foreign exchange rates and higher international lending rates compared to those offered domestically.
Khuzestan Steel Company has slashed exports to bring down steel prices. Exports have been reduced by 60,000 tons, of which 40,000 tons have been used to produce iron bars.

Davood Danesh-Jafari

TEHRAN, Aug. 27--The government has managed to bring the inflation rate under control in spite of growing liquidity, said Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Davood Danesh-Jafari here on Sunday.
According to ISNA, the minister further said at the meeting of Islamic Association of Engineers that the growth rate in the agriculture sector reached 7.1 percent last year up from 3.2 percent recorded in the year to March 2005.
He said services sector grew by 5.1 percent in the March 2005-2006 period as against the 4.6 percent of March 2004-2005.
The minister put gross domestic product (GDP)--excluding oil--at 5.5 percent in the year to March 2006, which was up from 4.8 percent of the March 2004-2005 period.
He said, however, that liquidity growth rose from 30.2 percent in the year to March 2005 to 34.3 percent in the year to March 2005.
Danesh-Jafari said that inflation rate stood at 15.2 percent in the March 2004-2005 period and this figure came down to 11.1 percent by April 2006.
“The (inflation) rate dropped further to 10.5 percent in May, 10.3 percent in June and 10 percent in July,“ he said.
A senior banking expert said last week that inflation rate can come under control only through reforms in financial structures.
Mohammad Tabibian, who heads the High Banking Institute, said that the chief executive’s economic views are practical and respected, stressing, however, that it would be impossible to lower inflation and bank lending rates to below 10 percent through short-term programs.
“Our economy faces long-term, structural problems, which (at best) give way for a 15-20 percent inflation rate,“ he said, adding that higher oil revenues coupled with high imports and restrictions on stock market speculations have managed to reduce inflation.
“We are just delaying (the process of solving) the problem by employing compulsory measures to reduce inflation and bank lending rates to below 10 percent,“ he said.
Experts say the Central Bank of Iran studies fluctuations in prices of 300 items of goods and services to determine the inflation rate.
However, Saeid Shirkavand, a former deputy minister of economic affairs and finance, says people are skeptical about the official inflation figures as they pay attention only to the hikes in the prices of certain goods that they regularly buy.

TEHRAN, Aug. 27--A senior economic expert has proposed that oil revenues be distributed directly among the people.
According to ILNA, Mousa Ghaninejad said at a panel discussion on ’political economy and oil’ that distribution of oil revenues among the public would be possible in the long run.
He said the easily-earned oil income has strengthened the hands of the governments in achieving their objectives.
“State-run economy is not limited to individuals and is a general ailment,“ he said, adding that the people in oil-rich countries also consume more fuel and have higher expectations because of the God-given oil revenues.
He said oil revenues belong to the people, whereas the government spends them in an improper way.
“Perhaps, if we did not have this (source of) income and relied on (other) national assets, we would have greater welfare today,“ he said, calling for more logical spending of oil revenues.
The expert said the Foreign Exchange Reserves Account has brought greater transparency to the oil sector.

TEHRAN, Aug. 27--Commercial oceanliner ’Iran-Bam’ has joined the national marine transportation fleet, ILNA reported on Sunday.
It said that ’Iran-Bam’ has the capacity to transport some 74,000 tons of goods at a speed of 14.7 knots, adding that it is the last of five ships built in Panamax Felber Shipbuilding Company in China under the supervision of Iranian experts.
It further said that with the launching of ’Iran-Bam’, the capacity of the country’s oceangoing ships has increased to 3.4 million tons.
’Iran-Bam’ was named in memory of those who lost their lives and the survivors of the devastating earthquake that flattened the ancient city of Bam in 2003.
Meanwhile, it was reported on Sunday that the total cargo capacity of the key Shahid Rajaei Port in southern Iran has exceeded six million containers per annum with the $700-million investment by State Ports and Shipping Organization in development plans.
Ali Reza Sate’i, deputy head of the Organization for port affairs, told Seana news agency that the second phase of the port’s new terminal has become operational, adding that the port capacity has increased to over 9,000 TEU.
Sate’i further noted that the State Ports and Shipping Organization, Middle East Tidewater Company and the representatives of different companies are trying to encourage major international shipping lines to use the port’s services, adding that giant ships entering ports will help reduce transportation costs.

Wild crocodiles are protected in many parts of the world, but they also are farmed commercially.

TEHRAN, Aug. 27--State Veterinary Organization announced here on Sunday that religious authorities have for the first time given the much-needed go-ahead to crocodile breeding given that the lucrative business is growing fast worldwide.
The organization further said that the large aquatic reptiles will be bred in Iran for the first time, adding that the animal is of huge economic value as its hide, flesh and other body parts are vastly used in leather, industrial and pharmaceutical sectors in other countries, reported Fars.
“Thanks to our (exceptional) climatic diversity, many private companies have announced their willingness to do crocodile farming in various provinces, including Sistan-Baluchestan, Ardebil and Tehran,“ it said, adding that religious and health principles have to be taken into consideration in slaughtering crocodiles.
Scientists in the United States have isolated a powerful agent in crocodile blood which could help conquer human infections immune to standard antibiotics.
Wild crocodiles are protected in many parts of the world, but they also are farmed commercially. Their hide is tanned and used to make leather goods such as shoes and handbags, whilst crocodile meat is also considered a delicacy in many parts of the world.
Farming has resulted in an increase in the Saltwater Crocodile population in Australia, as eggs are usually harvested from the wild, so landowners have an incentive to conserve crocodile habitat. Crocodiles are more closely related to birds and dinosaurs than to most animals classified as reptiles.