The Hindu Business Line : India writes to Iran for talks on pipeline project

Official sources said, “Recently we have written to Iran to convene a trilateral meeting.” This move follows the bilateral meeting held between India and Pakistan to resolve the pending issues including the transportation charges and transit fee.

Before participating in any further trilateral talks, India wanted to resolve bilateral issues with Pakistan on the project. Meanwhile, according to reports, Pakistan has sent a proposal to China asking it to join the multi-million dollar project if India withdraws from the venture. A ministerial level bilateral talk with Pakistan was held at Islamabad in April.

At the bilateral meeting with Pakistan, a proposal was made that GAIL (India) Ltd become a consortium partner in the Pakistan-India portion of the IPI gas pipeline project. Iran is laying the pipeline on its own in its sector. Of the 2,200-km long pipeline, 1,045 km is in Iran.

Three bilateral issues were discussed at the meeting: the structure of the pipeline company, which will execute and manage the project; the transportation tariff; and the transit fee. As regards the transit fee to be charged by Pakistan, the official had said it would be de-linked from the price of gas.

The principles of transportation charges have already been agreed on between the two sides for the over $7-billion pipeline project. The transportation charges will be levied on capex-plus-operating costs basis, based on international competitive bidding.

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