India Urged to Revive Gas Projects with Iran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – New Delhi should revive its stalled gas projects with Iran following the imminent removal of sanctions against the Islamic Republic, India’s Associate Chamber of Commerce and Industry said on Sunday.
"Lifting of western sanctions on Iran throws up a great opportunity for India to transport natural gas from Iran to Porbandar port in Gujarat, bypassing Pakistan -- the main sticking point for other multilateral projects of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) and Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI)," Assocham said in a statement, The Economic Times reported.
"With the IPI pipeline still stuck and the TAPI pipeline yet to take off, the South Asia Gas Enterprises Pvt (SAGE) has proposed an under sea pipeline bypassing Pakistan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) to transport up to 1.1 billion standard cubic feet per day of gas from Chabahar in Iran and Ra's al Jifan in Oman to Porbandar in Gujarat with a spur line to Mumbai later,” it added.
"The 1,200-1,300 km pipeline is set to cost around USD 4.5 billion," the chamber pointed out.
One month after Iran and world powers reached an agreement over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, India's ONGC Videsh submitted Iran a revised plan seeking to develop the country’s giant gas field Farzad-B in Farsi block in the Persian Gulf.
"About two weeks ago we submitted a revised proposal for the development of Farzad-B gas field in line with the demand of Iranian authorities," Managing Director of ONG Videsh N. K. Verma said.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) on July 14 reached a conclusion on a lasting nuclear agreement that would terminate all sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear energy program after coming into force.
The promising prospect of trade with Iran has prompted many countries to explore the market potential in the populous Middle East nation.
