Bangladesh may join TAPI gas pipeline project
10 Jul 2012
Bangladesh is likely to join the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project with a formal nod from the TAPI steering committee and an invitation from the Asian Development Bank to submit a formal request for inclusion in the project.
The TAPI steering committee, at its meeting on 23 May, had discussed Bangladesh's request to include the country in the TAPI project and had since mandated the funding agency, the ADB, to request the Bangladesh government to submit a formal proposal to Turkmenistan, the seller of gas, for inclusion in the TAPI project.
The ADB, in a letter sent to the economic relations division of Bangladesh's finance ministry, has asked it to submit a formal request for inclusion in the TAPI gas pipeline project, latest by Sunday.
The steering committee has Turkmenistan's deputy chairman of cabinet ministers, Afghanistan's minister of mines and the petroleum ministers of Pakistan and India as members.
Bangladesh has been asked to detail the expected volume of gas off-take, the quality of gas required, delivery pressure and the likely date of accepting gas deliveries, in a formal letter to the steering committee.
The Bangladesh government had, in a recent letter to the Afghan government, expressed its interest in joining the project and had also sent a proposal in this regard.