Pipeline meet from April 21

In accordance with the confirmation received from the respective governments, the Technical Working Group meeting and the 10th Steering Committee Meeting of ministers would be held in Islamabad during those dates.

The meeting of the ministers would be a watershed event as India (so far an observer) plans to formally join the project, a step considered crucial for the pipeline’s economics. It would also see all four signing the principal Heads of Agreement and finalising the Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement to formalise the path ahead.

In February, ADB sought consent of the four nations to shift the 10th Steering Committee Meeting to April to provide time for a “quick update” of the feasibility report. “Preparations have been made by the countries for the proposed agenda. However, it was pointed out that one of the inputs — the feasibility study finalised through ADB Technical Assistance — was completed almost four years ago,” said the ADB letter.

“Project parameters may have changed since then and the costing and other factors of the study are now out of date. It is proposed that a desktop update of the study be performed and the report submitted to the TWG before the meeting,” it added.

The capital cost of the 1,680-km pipeline was pegged at $3.3 billion in 2004 with its origin in Daulatabad, into Afghanistan along the highway from Herat to Kandahar, then via Quetta to Multan in Pakistan before entering Fazilka in India.