ISLAMABAD, Jan 22: The government is considering to import diesel from India to reduce its transportation costs, an official said on Thursday.

The country imports around $1 billion worth of diesel every year from the Middle East and has to incur high transportation charges.

The official told Dawn that Petroleum Secretary M. Abdullah Yousaf held initial discussions with Indian authorities on the subject during his recent visit to the neighbouring country.

The Reliance Group of India had initially offered to supply diesel to Pakistan a couple of years ago. Islamabad had turned down the offer on the grounds that an Indian source of petroleum imports could not be relied upon in the times of emergency.

Sources said the group has renewed its offer in the wake of changing relations between the two countries and Islamabad had promised to consider it. Discussions on the subject are expected to progress during the petroleum secretary's visit to New Delhi to attend an international conference on Iran-India gas pipeline from March 10.