The Hindu Business Line : Indo-Iranian gas pipeline talks get under way

THE proposed Iran-India gas pipeline will move forward in the next two days, with the two countries beginning talks on the finer details of the project.

A team of officials from the National Iranian Gas Export Company and the National Iranian Oil Company, here to attend the Third Asia Gas Buyers' Summit, will meet officials from the Government and Gail (India) to discuss the Term Chart.

Term Chart is the document that will set the parameters of the project, including the quantity of gas, the size of the pipeline, its alignment and the capital cost.

According to a study by BHP Billiton, the 2,600-km pipeline will originate at Assaaluyeh in Iran and terminate at the Indian border, somewhere in Rajasthan, with a tap-off point at Multan in Pakistan.

A top Government official involved in the talks hoped that the project could take off in less than a year and be completed by the targeted 2010-11.

On security concerns, the official said there would be a security force to patrol the pipeline and most of it would anyway be buried underground. Besides, there would be satellite monitoring, and motion sensors would be installed to spot any possible insurgent attack.

The agreement with Iran would mandate the country to stop supplies to Pakistan if it closes the tap on India.

The official said India would build a "huge storage" facility that will take care of 15 days' supply. There isalso the option of moving gas from Iran through the LNG route if the pipeline suffers disruption.

Though the project will be initially executed based on bilateral agreements, there is the possibility of the three countries signing a trilateral agreement in future to assure investors in the project.

"It is possible, at some stage in the future, that the three governments concerned may enter into an overarching trilateral agreement if only to give an assurance to investors involved in the project," the official said.

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