TEHRAN – Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian inaugurated six electricity projects in Markazi Province in central Iran on Tuesday through video conference, IRNA reported.

The mentioned projects were inaugurated in the third week of the implementation of a major program called “A B Iran” [the acronyms A and B stand for water, electricity in Persian”, in which 250 major water and electricity projects will be inaugurated across the country by the yearend (March 20, 2021).

This week, the construction operations were also started on two electricity projects in the said province.

Speaking in the inauguration ceremony, Managing Director of Bakhtar Regional Electricity Company Farhad Shabihi put the value of the mentioned projects at 24.9 trillion rials (about $59.2 million) and noted that these projects are directly related to the development of the province's electricity infrastructure.

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

Back in March, Ardakanian announced that 5,931 energy projects worth 8.84 quadrillion rials (about $210.4 billion) were underway across the country.

Speaking on the occasion of finishing the last year’s A-B-Iran program on March 11, the official said during this program 227 major projects with a total investment of 335.6 trillion rials (about $7.99 billion) went operational in the country.

According to the minister, during the 20 weeks of the mentioned program in the previous year, the minister made 31 trips to various provinces for inaugurating energy projects.

The official also noted that the energy ministry’s programs will continue in the current Iranian calendar year.

EF/MA