The Express Tribune: TAPI Gas Pipeline: French, Russian and Chinese Firms Vie to Win Contract

The four nations involved in the Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (Tapi) gas pipeline project have unanimously agreed to pick one of the three companies – one each from France, Russia and China – that have expressed interest in becoming the consortium leader for financing the multibillion-dollar project.

According to officials, the four nations discussed this during a meeting here on Thursday of the steering committee on the transnational gas pipeline starting from Central Asia.

The company will be selected by Turkmenistan by March 15, which will extract gas in Turkmenistan and finance and lay the pipeline for energy transmission.

Officials said that the meeting agreed to take practical measures to start the Tapi project as soon as possible, while construction of the gas line will take four years to complete.

Terms and conditions to start the work on a fast track were under consideration, while first flow of gas to Pakistan is expected by 2020 instead of the scheduled date of 2017, they added. MORE