TEHRAN – Some water projects were inaugurated in Ilam Province in the west of Iran on Thursday during a ceremony held via video conference and attended by President Hassan Rouhani and Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian.

Addressing the ceremony, Ardakanian said Energy Ministry has implemented 301,000 hectares of irrigation and drainage networks since President Hassan Rouhani took office in August 2017, the portal of Energy Ministry (known as Paven) reported.

The minister also said for every two hectares of the mentioned networks, a direct job has been created for one person.

According to Ardakanian, the ministry has it on the agenda to bring 2.86 million hectares of land in the downstream of the country’s dams under irrigation systems.

“The number has now reached 2.4 million, and it is hoped that by the Iranian calendar year of 1406 (begins on March 2027) all the mentioned networks would be implemented,” he added.

Following a program called “A-B-Iran”, the Iranian Energy Ministry is going to inaugurate 250 major water and electricity projects worth 500 trillion rials (about $11.9 billion) in several provinces across the country during the current Iranian calendar year (ends on March 20, 2021).

***Rouhani calls for private sector involvement in energy projects

During the inauguration ceremony, President Rouhani called on the Energy Ministry to pave the way for the private sector to get more involved in the country’s energy projects.

“We are now desalinating the seawater and bringing it to this region; the industrial sector itself is investing”, Rouhani said.

It is important that the Energy Ministry directs the private sector into its projects where it is possible and when the government does not have the resources, Rouhani stressed.

EF/MA