Construction work has been launched on the Afghan section of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) natural gas pipeline.
A ceremony to start works on the pipeline’s Serhetabat-Herat section was held on September 11 at a checkpoint on the Turkmen-Afghan border. It was attended by the Chairman of the People’s Council of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, the prime minister of the Afghan government.
Estimated to cost $10 billion, the TAPI pipeline project, which has already been completed on the territory of Turkmenistan, will annually transfer 33 billion cubic meters of Turkmen natural gas to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.
The total length of the TAPI pipeline will be 1,814 kilometers, with 816 kilometers running through Afghanistan.
The TAPI project will help gas-rich Turkmenistan diversify its gas export routes.
For Afghanistan, the TAPI project will meet the country’s gas needs and bring in around $450 million in annual transit fees.
Speaking via videoconferencing, Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedov said: “The commencement of the TAPI project [on the Afghan territory] and other projects is beneficial not only for Afghanistan but also for the countries in the region.”
In addition to TAPI, the ceremony opened a 177-meter long railway bridge at the Turkmen-Afghan border, launched the construction of the Serhetabat-Herat fiber-optic communication line, a warehouse complex in the dry port of the Turgundi railway station at the Turkmen-Afghan border, and the Turgundi-Sanabar section of the Turgundi-Herat railway, and commissioned the Nur-el-Jahad power plant located in Herat province of Afghanistan as part of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) power transmission line project.
Photo: gov.tm
