Undersea Gas Pipeline is Feasible, India tells Iran

The proposed Iran-India undersea gas pipeline is feasible and will go through technical and economic investigation.

Managing Director of National Iranian Gas Exporting Company (NIGEC) Ali-Reza Kameli said on Monday that India along with a number of European companies is conducting feasibility studies on the pipeline, Iran’s energy information agency Shana reported. Kameli added that India has informed that the project is practical.

He said the pipeline would be about 1,400 km long and in certain areas 3,500 meters deep.

"We wait to see what cost and method the Indian party proposes for the project to transfer Iranian gas to India. Of course, before the talks on the issue with the Indian purchasers are final, the cost of the pipeline transfer and the net profit of the exports to India should be estimated," Kameli stated.

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.