Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 27
By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend:
Turkmengaz state concern of Turkmenistan will become the main investor in the project for constructing Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, said the message from Turkmen government.
The issue was discussed during the last government meeting in Turkmenistan.
During the meeting, deputy chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Baymyrat Hojamuhammedov reported about the results of the 23rd meeting of the TAPI Steering Committee held in Ashgabat.
Reportedly, during the detailed discussions, the members of the TAPI Ltd. consortium fully agreed on the draft shareholder agreement and initialed it.
During the discussions, the sides noted that it is planned to start the construction of one of the largest gas pipelines of the continent on the TAPI route.
Further, the members of TAPI Ltd. reviewed a number of other issues related to the legal, technical and commercial aspects of the project.
It was noted that the budget for constructing the Turkmen part of the pipeline was reviewed by Turkmenistan's government.
Afghanistan, India and Pakistan will finance the project in accordance with their approved shares.
The Asian Development Bank will also participate in this project.
The basic document for the TAPI project is the Ashgabat interstate agreement on launching the practical implementation of this project signed between the participating countries in 2010. The annual pumping capacity of the gas pipeline will be 33 billion cubic meters.
The gas pipeline's total length will be 1,735 kilometers; some 200 kilometers will run through Turkmenistan, 735 kilometers - Afghanistan, 800 kilometers - Pakistan to the Fazilka settlement on the border with India.
The cost of the TAPI project is up to $10 billion.
Edited by CN