Construction work of TAPI Gas Pipeline to begin next year


Apr 28, 8:35 PM


Four nations involved in Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India, TAPI, pipeline on Thursday reached an agreement on most of the terms on which gas will be sold but price of fuel and transit fee remained unresolved. Officials said in New Delhi after the conclusion of the steering committee meeting that terms of the Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) were agreed at a ministerial meeting. The unresolved issues will again come up for discussions in another meeting of the oil ministers of these countries in Kabul on 13 and 14 of May. Officials said after ascertaining the transit fee and transportation or charge for wheeling the gas through the pipeline, the four countries will meet in Turkmenistan to discuss gas price.
New Delhi raised the issue of safe delivery of fuel through the line at the meeting. Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy said at the meeting that there are issues that need to be addressed. He added that they decided regarding the price of gas, security of the pipeline, certainly of gas supply, transit fee and setting up of the consortium.
The pipeline will traverse 1,650 km of Afghan and Pakistani territories from the Afghanistan-Iran border before entering India at Fazilka, in the state of Punjab. AIR correspondent reports that the construction of the pipeline is due to start in 2012 and be completed and operational by the end of 2015.