Indian Energy Officials to Visit Iran to Discuss Undersea Gas Pipeline

A team comprising of officials from major Indian gas buyers will visit Iran to discuss the proposed under sea gas pipeline between the two countries.

According to Economic Times, a local business daily, the team comprising gas buyers like Gail and Indian Oil Corp., will visit Iran in March to discuss the cost of the gas that would be acquired through the pipeline and other modalities.

There are also plans to transport gas from Turkmenistan to India through this pipeline, said persons familiar with the Iranian energy sector and the pipeline. If this proposal succeeds, gas from Turkmenistan will be transferred to Iran, and in turn, Tehran will transfer similar quantity to India under a swap agreement between Iran and the Central Asian country, Economic Times reported Monday.

This will be a boost for an energy-hungry India after TAPI gas pipeline was formally launched last December.

People familiar with the developments also indicated that gas-rich Oman might join the pipeline at a later stage, making it a tri-nation initiative, given its geographical proximity to both India and Iran.

Indian company South Asia Gas Enterprise Pvt. Ltd. (SAGE India) has proposed to build the undersea pipeline. The SAGE pipeline would originate at Chabahar on the southern coast of Iran and Ras Al-Jafan on the Oman coast, and after traversing deep in the Arabian Sea, would bring gas to Porbandar in south Gujarat.

SAGE is promoted by the New Delhi based Siddho Mal Group, in joint venture with a UK-based Deepwater Technology Company. According to the company website, it is working with a global consortium of some of the most reputed companies in the field of deepwater pipelines, to create a multi-billion dollar "energy corridor" that can transport gas from the Middle East to India, bypassing the land route through Pakistan. Any company wanting to buy gas from Iran can use the pipeline for a rent.