"Gazprom is interested in taking part in building and managing a proposed $7 billion gas pipeline from Iran to India via Pakistan, a company official said Saturday.
Iran, India and Pakistan are expected to sign a key agreement on pricing in June that will help the pipeline project take off.
But an Indian official said in April that New Delhi had yet to make a final decision on the pipeline from Iran via Pakistan, which has been opposed by the United States."
However, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora denied reports that US is pressuring India to abandon the project. He said :
"The US is not pressuring us on the Indo-Iranian gas pipeline issue. India is not a country which will can be pressurised.
Those who are thinking that the US is mounting pressure on us are mistaken.
The pipeline, which will mainly transfer gas from Iran's South and North Pars offshore fields in the Persian Gulf, will initially carry 60 million cubic metres of gas per day, according to Hojatollah Ghanimifard, an Iranian negotiator. The second phase should see the transfer of an additional 90 million cubic metres per day.
The pipeline has been in the planning stage for more than a decade but has made slow progress mainly due to political tensions between India and Pakistan.
GET QUOTE
Add a Comment
<<Home