GAIL to build $7.6bn pipeline

State-run GAIL India Ltd will be part of a consortium that will be building the $7.6 billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline by 2015.
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Unlike the rival pipeline from Iran, the 1,680 kilometer long pipeline from Dauletabad gas field in Turkmenistan will be built and operated by a consortium of national oil companies from the four countries, a top official said here.
India last week formally joined the US-backed project to meet its growing energy needs.
The rival Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline is to be built by the three nations separately — Iran is to build the section of the pipeline that fall in its territory, while Pakistan will construct the 1,035-km length from Iran-Pakistan border to Pakistan-India border. India will lay the line from its border with Pakistan to the consumption centre. But, TAPI would be constructed by a consortium.
"A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be floated for the purpose, with a strong likelihood of international companies joining in laying and operation of the pipeline," he said.
The Steering Committee meeting of TAPI project, called by the project sponsor Asian Development Bank in Islamabad last week, endorsed GAIL's participation in the consortium.
TAPI pipeline will run from the Dauletabad gas field in Turkmenistan to Afghanistan. From there it will be constructed alongside the highway running from Herat to Kandahar and then through Quetta and Multan in Pakistan. The final destination of the pipeline will be the Indian town of Fazilka, near the border between Pakistan and India.
The pipeline will transport 100 million standard cubic metre per day of gas from the Dauletabad gas field, of which India's share is likely to be 60 million standard cubic metre.