Indian Auditor Raises Issue of Gas Pipeline Delays

Indian government auditor CAG has sought Oil Ministry's comments on inadequate progress made in transnational gas pipeline projects including the Iran- Pakistan-India line, according to Press Trust of India (PTI). 

The CAG of India on September 5 wrote to the ministry saying that there was uncertainty in import of gas through pipelines due to geo-political, technological and security reasons from the beginning. 

The Auditor mentioned that implementation of both Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline and TAPI gas pipeline was lagging, PTI reported.

According to PTI, CAG said that Iran and Pakistan have gone ahead with the IPI project and construction of the Pakistan section was inaugurated in March this year and is expected to be completed in 22 months. It further said that TAPI project has been in discussion for almost about 23 years posing a significant potential for the energy security of the country but still issues relating to price, security and gas certification remain unresolved.

CAG also mentioned about the Myanmar-Bangladesh-India pipeline was mooted in 1997 and still remains unimplemented. The 900-km line was to source gas from Mayanmar and Bangladesh for supply into India. 

CAG, which is doing a Performance Audit of Supply and Pricing of Natural Gas, asked the ministry to furnish its comments on the issue at the earliest, PTI reported.