Iran’s central bank has opened an account with India’s government-run UCO Bank to receive payment for as much as 45 percent of its crude exports to the South Asian nation in rupees, the Financial Chronicle newspaper reported, citing unidentified officials. The account may start operating in two months, the newspaper said. It will amount to about $5.4 billion per year, assuming the country imports a total $12 billion of oil annually, according to the report. Arun Kaul, chairman of Kolkata-based UCO, did not return two calls to his office telephone. The Indian government plans to take a delegation of engineering companies to Iran to explore opportunities for exports to the country, according to the Financial Chronicle report. The exports would be in industries such as power, railways and infrastructure that aren’t under sanctions, Aman Chadha, chairman of the Engineering Export Promotion Council of India, told the newspaper. To contact the reporter on this story: Pratish Narayanan in Mumbai at pnarayanan9@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net

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