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Gas pipeline deal draft to be ready by June 30: Iran

Atul Aneja

First phase of project to be completed by December 2008

DUBAI: A top Iranian official has said that the contract for the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline will be finalised by June 30.

Speaking to reporters at the end of the four-day official meeting in Tehran of representatives from India, Pakistan and Iran, Hojatollah Ghanimifard, head of the Iranian delegation, said the countries would meet the deadline for finalising the draft.

He said that in the next 12 days there would be some more paperwork. Some amendments to the proposed deal were made. The text of these amendments would be conveyed to the individual governments, prior to the finalisation of the deal.

Less differences

Mr. Ghanimifard said differences between the Indian and the Pakistani sides had narrowed down considerably. India's Petroleum Minister Murli Deora had earlier said that, "The talks now hinge on agreement over the tariff to be charged by Pakistan for gas transported through its section of the pipeline for delivery at the Indian border."

According to Iran's Mehr news agency, the first phase of the project would be completed by December 2008. During this stage, 902 km of pipeline would be laid between Assaluyeh port to Iranshahr. The pipeline would pass through the Iranian port city of Bushehr, and then across the Hormuzgan, Fars, and Kerman provinces, before reaching Sistan-Baluchistan province. The 2,775-km pipeline would then enter Pakistan and be taken forward to India.

In a separate development, Mr. Deora told Reuters on the sidelines of an energy conference in Paris that the $7-billion gas pipeline deal "is coming" through.

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