India, Pakistan agree on transit fee formula for TAPI gas pipeline project
25 Jan 2012
India and Pakistan have in-principle agreed to uniform transit fee formula for transporting gas through pipeline from Turkmenistan to India through Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Pakistan has agreed in principle that whatever fee formula is eventually settled between India and Afghanistan would also be acceptable to Pakistan, subject to approval of their competent authority.
This was agreed to at a bilateral meeting between petroleum minister S Jaipal Reddy and his Pakistan counterpart Asim Hussain in New Delhi today.
The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline Project is expected to transport 38 mmscmd gas to India from Central Asian gas fields.
During the third meeting with Pakistan on the issue of transit fee and the first one at the political level the two sides agreed that the negotiations would be conducted in a transparent manner keeping in mind the overall economics of the project, ie, the landed cost of gas, and in accordance with the relevant international practices.
Both sides also agreed to settle the transit fee issue at the earliest in order to expedite the signing of the gas sale purchase agreement (GSPA).
