IRNA reported that Mr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad president of Iran inaugurated a 484 MW combined cycle power plant in this central Iranian city.

The power plant is the first one in the world to make use of both solar energy and natural gas an amount of EUR 300 million has been spent on construction and completion of the power plant which offers direct employment to some 3,300 people.

Mr Ahmadinejad said that many steel projects are currently underway in different parts of the country which will gradually become utilized. The government was planning to produce 42 million tonnes of steel in the country annually.

He further noted that Iran's present capacity of steel production stood at 19 million tonnes every year.

(Sourced from IRNA)