ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The construction work on the $10 billion TAPI natural gas pipeline project connecting Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India is set to take off on Sunday (December 13), nearly 25 years after it was conceptualized.
The 1,735-kilometer pipeline is supposed to eventually carry 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year to South Asia from Turkmenistan.
Price estimates range as high as $10 billion and the latest date for completion is 2018.
The gas for the pipeline is to be sourced from the massive Galkynysh field in southeastern Turkmenistan.
The pipeline is to run across the border into Afghanistan’s Herat province, and then traverse southeast through Farah and Helmand provinces following the Herat-Kandahar highway and enter Kandahar province, Trend news agency reported.
At the Pakistani border, the pipeline will enter Balochistan near the provincial capital of Quetta and route due east until it enters India and ends in the town of Fazilka.
Turkmenistan’s state company Turkmengaz will lead the project consortium with 51% stake.
Other consortium partners include Afghan Gas Enterprise, Pakistan’s Inter State Gas Systems and Indian natural gas processing and distribution giant Gail.
In November 2014, the four firms launched a company called Tapi Pipeline Company (TPCL) to build, own and operate the pipeline project.
Scheduled to be commissioned in 2018, the pipeline is expected to transport 90 million standard cubic meters a day of gas and has an operational life of 30 years.
To ensure safety of the pipeline, an inter-government joint security task force will be set up with clear-cut roles and responsibilities.
Source: APP
