Mumbai: India has joined the four-nation gas pipeline project that will transport up to 90 MMSCMD of natural gas from gas fields in Turkmenistan via Afghanistan and Pakistan to India. 

India was formally admitted to the  Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project at the tenth steering committee meeting held on 23-24 April, at Pakistan's capital Islamabad.

The 1,680 km TAPI pipeline, covering a length of 145 km, 735 km and 800 km, respectively, in Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan up to the Indian border, will supply 90 MMSCMD of gas.

Afghanistan will utilise about to 5.0 MMSCMD of gas during first and second year and 14 MMSCMD from the third year onwards while the remaining quantity of gas will be equally shared by India and Pakistan.

Minister of petroleum and natural gas Murli Deora represented India at the meeting in Islamabad which adopted an inter-governmental framework agreement to facilitate implementation of the project.

The next meeting of the steering committee will be held in India.

Deora, meanwhile, sought to dispel the impression that India was dragging its feet on the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project and was less interested in this than in the Turkeministan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline. Deora also called on the prime minister of Pakistan, Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani.

''For us, both are equally important. As far as India is concerned, we want to settle and activate both because the energy demand in India is so much and the oil prices are shooting up,'' Deora said.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is playing the role of lead facilitator for the project. The gas is expected to flow to India from Turkmenistan in the year 2014. The project will help to promote energy security of the participating countries and strength regional cooperation.

As per the agreement, the pipeline will be executed by a consortium. The gas will be supplied from Douletabad and other fields in Turkmenistan and the principle of unobstructed transit of natural gas, in accordance with international norms, will be followed.

The safety and security of the pipeline and related infrastructure will be provided by concerned governments in their respective territories. Transportation tariff will be based on the cost of service method.