NEW DELHI:
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be hoping to revive the Turkmenistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline when he visits Central Asian countries this month, as per sources.
According to a report published in the Hindu, Mr Modi’s visit to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan is expected to give an impetus to various energy and mining projects, including TAPI.
According to the report, the ‘multi-billion dollar TAPI project could be off to a year-end start, as the legal framework is expected to be in place by September, followed by the announcement of the consortium’.
Turkmenistan ambassador Parakhat H. Durdyev said on Monday that developments related to the 1,078-mile pipeline that will transport natural gas off the Caspian Sea resort of Avaza to India via Afghanistan and Pakistan will be announced shortly.