TAPI Pipeline Constitution Work to Start on Dec. 13

Construction of much delayed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline is finally expected to commence on Dec. 13, Turkmenistan Ambassador to Pakistan Atadjan Movlamov said Tuesday.

Addressing a function in Islamabad, Movlamov said ground breaking ceremony of the 1,735-km long gas pipeline will take next month, Afghanistan’s news agency Khamma Press reported.

He said the TAPI project was vital for South Asia’s energy needs.

Turkmengaz, which was named project consortium leader for TAPI project in August, will kick off the construction of the gas pipeline, the news agency reported. High level Afghan government officials including, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani who was invited by his counterpart President Berdymuhamedov earlier this month, will attend the ceremony.

 TAPI gas pipeline will export up to 33 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India over 30 years.