Iran Friday asked for renegotiating the price for the liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be supplied to India for 25 years, the Indo-Asian News Service reported.

Iranian Deputy Oil Minister for International Affairs Mohammad-Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian raised the issue with Indian Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on the sidelines of the India-Pakistan-Iran meeting on the tri-nation gas pipeline project, the report said.

"The (renegotiated) price they are seeking is unrealistic. They are asking for more than double. If we accept, it would mean an additional implication of 12 billion U.S. dollars," Deora was quoted as saying.

India and Iran signed a deal last year that Iran will supply 5 million tons of liquefied natural gas to India annually for 25 years from 2009.

Deora said India has considered the deal, worth of 22 billion U.S. dollars, as final.

(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2006)