India and Iran are discussing building a gas pipeline between the two countries along the bed of the Oman Sea to bypass Pakistan, a board director of the company developing the project said on Tuesday.
"The carrying capacity of the gas pipeline's first leg will total 31 billion cubic meters annually, with the cost of construction estimated at $4 billion," THP Pao, a member of the board of directors and head of the supervisory board of South Asia Gas Enterprise Private Ltd. (SAGE), said.
The statement came ahead of a visit by Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov to India.
Pao said India and Iran were discussing the delivery of natural gas produced in Turkmenistan with Indian assistance to north Iran while the Islamic Republic will send natural gas from its southern deposits to Indian consumers.
A diplomatic source confirmed to RIA Novosti that Delhi had discussed the project with Tehran and Ashkhabad and received their backing.
Under the project being worked on by SAGE, the gas pipeline will be 1,100 kilometers (684 miles) long. The submersible part of the pipeline will start from the Iranian port city of Chabahar and will deliver gas to consumers in the Indian state of Gujarat.
According to SAGE, international investors will also finance the expensive gas pipeline project. In particular, Italian companies have expressed their readiness to join the project.
India, Iran and Pakistan have been discussing the project of building a gas pipeline between the three countries for the past three years. However, the negotiations have dragged on due to the worsening of relations between India and Pakistan.
Though there were other options like shipping through the Arabian Sea or laying of deep-sea pipeline but the land-based pipeline from Pakistan would be much cheaper.
Transmission rate and terrorism in the neighboring country have so far stalled the project.
Officials from Iran and Pakistan signed an agreement on March 16 for a long-delayed project to ship gas eastward from the giant offshore South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf.
The so-called Peace Pipeline project was raised initially in 1994 and included India in the plans.
Washington opposes the project because of the economic incentive for Iran, calling on its partners in Islamabad to consider other alternatives. New Delhi expressed renewed interest in the project in March.
New Delhi, meanwhile, is expecting a delegation from Ashgabat to discuss plans for a natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan. The government in Ashgabat recently signed a measure authorizing construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline, a rival to the Iranian option.
"The carrying capacity of the gas pipeline's first leg will total 31 billion cubic meters annually, with the cost of construction estimated at $4 billion," THP Pao, a member of the board of directors and head of the supervisory board of South Asia Gas Enterprise Private Ltd. (SAGE), said.
The statement came ahead of a visit by Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov to India.
Pao said India and Iran were discussing the delivery of natural gas produced in Turkmenistan with Indian assistance to north Iran while the Islamic Republic will send natural gas from its southern deposits to Indian consumers.
A diplomatic source confirmed to RIA Novosti that Delhi had discussed the project with Tehran and Ashkhabad and received their backing.
Under the project being worked on by SAGE, the gas pipeline will be 1,100 kilometers (684 miles) long. The submersible part of the pipeline will start from the Iranian port city of Chabahar and will deliver gas to consumers in the Indian state of Gujarat.
According to SAGE, international investors will also finance the expensive gas pipeline project. In particular, Italian companies have expressed their readiness to join the project.
India, Iran and Pakistan have been discussing the project of building a gas pipeline between the three countries for the past three years. However, the negotiations have dragged on due to the worsening of relations between India and Pakistan.
Though there were other options like shipping through the Arabian Sea or laying of deep-sea pipeline but the land-based pipeline from Pakistan would be much cheaper.
Transmission rate and terrorism in the neighboring country have so far stalled the project.
Officials from Iran and Pakistan signed an agreement on March 16 for a long-delayed project to ship gas eastward from the giant offshore South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf.
The so-called Peace Pipeline project was raised initially in 1994 and included India in the plans.
Washington opposes the project because of the economic incentive for Iran, calling on its partners in Islamabad to consider other alternatives. New Delhi expressed renewed interest in the project in March.
New Delhi, meanwhile, is expecting a delegation from Ashgabat to discuss plans for a natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan. The government in Ashgabat recently signed a measure authorizing construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline, a rival to the Iranian option.
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