$200 Million Allocated For TAPI Project
KABUL: (MEP) In the twenty-fourth meeting of the Steering Committee of TAPI project in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan’s capital, investment agreements among shareholders of the TAPI Pipeline Company Limited (TPCL) was signed on Thursday.
The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Pipeline (TAPI) project will connect the four countries, allowing to transport natural gas, mainly from Turkmenistan.
“We will use these funds to carry out various studies, preliminary engineering, environmental design and various research of the route,” Turkmenistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Yagshygeldy Kakayev told reporters in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat.
He said the studies would provide a more exact estimate of the project’s cost. Kakayev did not say who would finance the preliminary spending.
Mr. Kakayev also acknowledged the importance of the signing of the investment, as it “opens the way for the consortium for further work,” as quoted by ABC News. Other than determining costs, the team will also conduct studies to determine the detailed pipeline route and other environmental and social investigations.
The company would start its operating after the investment agreement in Dubai, United Arabic Emirates within the next two months.
TAPI project annually transfers 33 billion cubic meters of natural gas for 30 years from Turkmenistan to Pakistan and from India to Afghanistan. India buys more than fifty percent of the gas.
TAPI gas pipeline is the priority for the region and a major project for Afghanistan.
