India to join central Asia gas pipeline

India will join the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan natural gas pipeline to meet its fuel needs.

"We have 90 days to get the necessary approvals to join the project. Once approved by the Cabinet, the project will be renamed Tapi (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline)," Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said after inaugurating the Asian Gas Summit here today.

The proposed pipeline will stretch from the Turkmenistan border to Multan, Pakistan, with a 640-km extension to India. Estimated cost of the project is $2.9 billion for the segment to Pakistan and an additional $ 600 million for extension to India.

Officials said this pipeline project was easier to implement than the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline as it already had the backing of the Asian Development Bank. Deora added that sovereign guarantees should be given for raising funds for laying transnational pipelines of gas from Iran, Turkmenistan and Myanmar.

"The transnational pipelines require large investments, for which, various international institutions and multilateral agencies have to pool their resources. However, such investments will require guarantee from the respective governments," he said.

Deora said the matter of sovereign guarantees to investments in the Iran-Pakistan-India project would be discussed in the future round of talks scheduled in March and April.

Financing the construction of the pipeline was not easy considering geo-political issues involved.