The Hindu : National : India set to join Turkmenistan pipeline project

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007
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India set to join Turkmenistan pipeline project

Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI: In a major boost to the energy security policy for the nation, India is all set to join the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan gas pipeline project next month. The project is backed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that aims at importing natural gas from the Central Asian nation to meet the growing energy needs.

The Steering Committee meeting has been called by the project sponsor ADB between November 28 and 29 in Islamabad and would witness India formally becoming part of the project and the four nations signing the Project Heads of Agreement and a Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement.

India till now had an observer status in the project and had even hosted a meet on the issue last year in New Delhi.

The proposed pipeline will have a capacity of 33 billion cubic metres of natural gas per annum. The 1,680 km pipeline will run from the Daulatabad gas field to Afghanistan. From there it will be constructed alongside the highway running from Herat to Kandahar, and then via Quetta and Multan in Pakistan.

The final destination of the pipeline will be the Indian town of Fazilka, near the border between Pakistan and India. The pipeline will be 1,420 mm in diameter with a working pressure of 100 atm and a capacity of 33 billion cubic metre (BCM) of natural gas annually.

The cost of this international infrastructure is estimated at $4 billion. The deal on the pipeline was signed in December 2002 by the leaders of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

During the next month’s meeting, Turkmenistan will make a presentation on gas reserves and the volume available for export.

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