Hassan Montazer Torbati stated that gas supply has been developed in the cities and villages of the country since seven years ago due to the increase in gas production in South Pars gas field (Iran shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf).

In Iran, where villages account for generating 20-23 percent of the value added in the country, development of rural areas has been always a top agenda of the governments’ activities.

The sustainable economic, social, and cultural development of the villages is one of the major priorities of the current government, and many projects implemented and underway in this regard have led to outstanding development in the rural regions.

It is while the sanctions have created many limitations and difficulties for the Iranian economy in recent years.

One of the sectors with noticeable achievements in this field is gas supplying, while the number of villages supplied with natural gas has doubled during the past seven years since the current government started its activity.

Based on the statistics, 18,000 villages (each week 50 villages on average) have been connected to the national gas network over the past seven years, and now about 4.8 million families in 32,000 villages enjoy natural gas in the country. It means that 82 percent of the villages are connected to the gas network.

The current government has paid 290 trillion rials (about $6.904 billion) for supplying gas to the rural areas.

It should be noted that supplying gas to the villages has been a big help for the development of infrastructures, the establishment of complementary industries, and job creation in these areas.

While rural development has been always attached priority among the government’s projects, launching and inaugurating gas-supply projects in the rural areas has been expedited since the beginning of the sixth month of the current Iranian calendar year (August 22).

Of course, the development of the South Pars giant gas field has played a significant role in supplying gas to the villages.

MA/MA