New Delhi: A tripartite expert committee has been set up to resolve the deadlock over natural gas pricing on the first day of official-level talks between India, Pakistan and Iran on the transnational gas pipeline project.

The price of gas being quoted by Iran is as much as 60 per cent higher than the purchase price offered by India, according to Petroleum Secretary M. S. Srinivasan.

He said the committee comprising three members from each side was formed to look into the issue and report to officials from the countries on Friday, the second and concluding day of talks. Conceding that the gap on pricing was as much as 60 per cent between Iran and India, Mr. Srinivasan said differences have narrowed down in the sense that all sides have agreed to discuss the issue in detail at the level of an expert committee.

Sources said Iran was seeking a price of about $7.2 per million British thermal unit (mBtu) as against the price which India is prepared to pay, that is $4.25 per mBtu. This does not include the cost of transporting the gas through Pakistan.

Pakistan's Petroleum Secretary Ahmed Waqar said the two countries were one on the pricing issue and presented a common approach at the meeting. The Energy Adviser to Pakistan's Prime Minister Mukhtar Ahmed, however, said that his country would go ahead with the project even if India backed out.

Talks conclude today

Iranian Deputy Oil Minister M.H. Nejad Hossenian, in contrast, was confident about the project despite the impasse over pricing. The talks are to conclude on Friday.

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