New Delhi, 28 April: Carrying forward the momentum to make the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Pipeline project a reality, the Ministerial-level Steering Committee of TAPI met in New Delhi on 28th April, 2011. It was attended by Mr.S Jaipal Reddy, Minister, MoP&NG, Government of India, Mr. W Shahrani, Minister of Mines, Afghanistan, Dr. Asim Husasain, Advisor to PM on P&NR, Pakistan and Mr B Nedirov, Minister of Oil & Gas Industry and Mineral Resources, Turkmenistan. It has been decided that the Gas Sales Purchase Agreement(GSPA) between the four countries should be finalized, so that it can be signed by 31st July, 2011.
The 13th meeting of the Technical Working Group (TWG) comprising representatives from the four countries discussed various provisions of the GSPA. The meeting started on Monday and will continue till tomorrow for resolving the outstanding issues.The Steering Committee has given directions to the TWG to finalize the GSPA by 30th June, 2011 so that it can be signed by 31st July, 2011.
The TWG also finalized the Terms of Reference of the Transaction Advisor, who would facilitate the formation of the consortium for execution of the TAPI project. As per the Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement (GFPA) signed by all the participating countries in December 2010, a consortium of technically competent and financially capable international companies would be formed for finance, design and construction of the project.
The TAPI Pipeline project envisages the construction of a 1,700 km long pipeline which would originate from Turkmenistan, travel through Afghanistan and Pakistan before entering India. The estimated cost of the pipeline is US $ 7.6 billion and it would carry 90 MMSCMD gas. Of this, 14 MMSCMD would be meant for Afghanistan and 38 MMSCMD each for India and Pakistan.
The project was originally conceived in the 1990s by Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. India was formally admitted as a member of the TAPI project in April 2008. The Government of India has nominated GAIL (India) Limited for off-taking the Indian portion of the gas.
The Project has made substantial headway since the Steering Committee held in September 2010 and as many as eight meetings of TWG have been held since then.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been designated as the lead development partner of the project.
Courtesy : PIB
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