In a decision of far-reaching strategic implications, India is all set to sign a deal to have a direct subsea gas pipeline from Iran, by circumventing Pakistan.
The subsea pipeline would allow Iran to transfer natural gas from Turkmenistan to India, Tribune India reported.
The $4.5 billion gas pipeline project would supply 31.5 million cubic meters per day of gas to India’s west coast.
The 1,400-km pipeline will bypass the exclusive economic zone of Pakistan. Laying such a pipeline would need technical expertise for which a global consortium will lead the way.
A top official of the Narendra Modi-led government who did not wish to be named said, “Yes, the deal for the Iran-India subsea gas pipeline will be done. Matters have become easier, as the US-imposed economic sanctions on Iran have been lifted.”
India and Iran have held talks on key issues since the lifting of sanctions. Even during the sanctions, India was among the few countries allowed to buy crude oil from Iran.
New Delhi has also approved a three-pronged push toward Iran and Central Asia. It will fund a rail link between the Iranian port city of Chabahar and city of Zahedan, located on the junction of Iran-Afghanistan-Pakistan.
The rail link, when concluded, will join Chabahar Port with International North-South Transport Corridor to provide direct access to Central Asia.
It will also be used to establish greater links with Afghanistan as the India-built Zaranj-Delaram Road in that country is close to Zahedan.
Tehran is also studying plans to lay a subsea pipeline that connects its gas facilities in the south to the Sultanate of Oman. The 260-km pipeline project is expected to be laid by 2019 at a cost of $1 billion. It will supply 28 mcm/d of natural gas (10 billion cubic meters a year) from Iran to Oman under a 25-year contract.
