TEHRAN – The government has allocated about 80 percent of the funds required for the building of a cement production plant in Torbat-e Jam, located in Iran’s northeastern province of Khorasan Razavi.

Favorable geographic location, i.e. proximity to the nation’s eastern border with Afghanistan, vicinity to the under-construction Torbat-e Jam–Mashhad Highway, and access to the ample raw materials supplied from the region’s abundant mines are some of the peculiarities of the cement production plant project, the Persian service of IRNA quoted a senior provincial official as saying on Monday.

If the required infrastructure is provided, the province of Khorasan Razavi would play its due role in the nation’s industrial and economic development, he said.

Commenting on the low precipitation in the region and the long draughts affecting the province, the official said that development of the industrial projects, in particular cement production plants, along with the agricultural and animal husbandry activities in the province would complement each other extremely well.