Iran gas pipeline to be built via Balochistan

[Naveed Yaseen]

KARACHI (August 23 2009): The subcommittee/steering committee of the Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) has finalised the route of Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline and decided that the project would be built on land route, through Balochistan. In a meeting held here on Saturday, the committee dropped the second proposal--to build it through sea route.

The meeting was presided over by Petroleum Minister Naveed Qamar. Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, Balochistan Chief Minister Aslam Raisani, Federal Finance Secretary, Petroleum Secretary, Sindh Chief Secretary, Inter-State Gas Company MD and other officials of concerned ministries and companies attended the meeting. The meeting was briefed about the current status of the project. Various proposals and issues regarding the project, its construction and finance, were discussed.

The cost of construction of the project from Iran to Nawabshah has been estimated at $1.2 billion. The Petroleum Minister, while briefing the media after the meeting, said that initially the gas pipeline project was initiated by India to import gas from Iran to address its local needs. Later, Pakistan also joined this project to fulfil its increasing demand of gas. However, India left the project for its own reasons and now it is only a bilateral project between Iran and Pakistan.

He said that the option is there, and India can join the project any time. However, once the pipeline project is constructed, a separate pipeline would have to be constructed for India. He said that initially the government would pay all the expenditure of the project. However, later on private sector could also be invited to join the project.

There is an option to generate funding through stock exchanges with listing of a company, he said, and added that under this option ratio of partnership between government private sector would be 60:40.

The minister said that locally made pipeline would be used in the project and most of the work would be done by local companies. However, he said he was not against hiring an international consultant, if needed. Qamar said that Balochistan's reservations have been addressed, with the decision to construct the project via land route through Balochistan.

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