Close to 520 kilometers of high-pressure gas pipes are being laid in Zahedan, Sistan-Baluchestan Province, managing director of the Khorasan Razavi Province Gas Company said.
"The project is estimated to cost $14 million and is being funded by the National Iranian Gas Company," Hamid Fani told iranenergy.news on Monday.
As per a directive issued by NIGC, the KRGC was assigned to help expedite gas network development project in Zahedan.
According to the official, the venture will take 10 months to be completed due to the rugged terrain, mountains and valleys in the region.
"More than 15,000 households have been added to the natural gas grid in the city since last year," Fani said, adding that the figure surpassed 26,000 in March. According to a 2016 census Zahedan has a population of more than 650,000 in 130,000 households.
President Hassan Rouhani inaugurated a gas pipeline project in the southeastern city bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2017 that stretches 262 km from Iranshahr County to Zahedan.
The pipeline is an extension of the Iran Gas Trunkline 7 (IGAT-7) that stretches over 900 km between Asalouyeh, Bushehr Province, and Iranshahr in Sistan-Baluchestan Province.
NIGC figures show that the total number of household gas subscribers has increased by over 4.5 million in the past four years.
Close to 3.14 million subscribers from 107 small towns and 11,500 subscribers in rural areas have been added to the grid during the period, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said last month.
He said less than 55% of the population in rural areas was connected to the grid in 2014. Since then new gas connections and plans are underway to supply piped gas to the entire population by 2020.
