The Hindu : National : Gas pipeline agreement to be signed on Monday

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Sep 18, 2010
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

National

National

Gas pipeline agreement to be signed on Monday

Anita Joshua

ISLAMABAD: The Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement (GPFA) for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline will be signed in Ashkhabad on Monday, according to a release put out by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Resources here.

Pakistan will be represented by Petroleum Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, and the statement issued here states that his Indian counterpart will also be present at the signing of the GPFA.

After signing the GPFA, the four countries are planning to enter another round of negotiations to finalise the Gas Sales Purchase Agreement during a proposed TAPI summit in the Turkmenistan capital itself.

Late entrant

The TAPI pipeline project envisages transporting natural gas from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India. India is a late entrant as the other three countries had signed the Inter Governmental Agreement in 2002. For the induction of India, a revised GPFA was initiated in 2008, the Ministry statement said.

The 1,680 km long pipeline is expected to carry 3.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) gas from Turkmenistan. It will deliver 0.5 bcfd to Afghanistan and 1.35 bcfd to Pakistan and to India.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail