NEW DELHI, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- India is keen to join the $3.5 billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan gas pipeline to meet its huge energy needs as the fate of the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline is uncertain following controversy over Iran's nuclear program, Indian energy experts said Wednesday.
"India should test the viability of TAP gas pipeline as an alternative to Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, which is getting mauled by the Iran nuclear program," said Amitav Ranjan of the Indian Express newspaper.
Ranjan believes joining TAP will suit India as it has better viability, and security concerns would be met with both Pakistan and Afghanistan describing the gas pipeline as a boost to their economies. TAP is being viewed as southern companion to the new market access routes being put in through Turkey.
"Joining TAP would also add one more benefit to India as the cost of TAP gas would be cheaper than the gas coming from Iran," Ranjan said.
The Indian Cabinet recently asked its Oil Ministry to begin talks on the possibility of joining TAP. Countries associated with TAP invited India to attend the next meeting as an observer later this week in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat. Junior Oil Minister Dinsha Patel went to assess the viability of the project.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai strongly supports India joining TAP.
"India's participation is vital to the viability of TAP," he said.
Argentina's Birdas Corp. originally conceived the TAP gas pipeline project in 1992. Saudi and U.S. oil companies expressed interest, but withdrew later.
The project is being revived with tacit U.S. backing because it suits Washington to deny Iran and Russia oil transportation routes in Central Asia. Iran and Russia are the only two countries to provide outlets to the region.
During Iran pipeline talks in Islamabad in June last year, then-Indian Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer consented to join TAP.
"India should express its two basic concerns: the security of the pipeline and independent estimate of the quantity of gas from Turkmenistan's Daulatabad oilfields," said Ranjan.
During informal talks on the project, India stressed the need for a safer route, as the southern route prepared by the project's three proponents runs through sensitive areas still held by Taliban extremists in Afghanistan and by tribal militants in Pakistan's Balochistan.
India sees this southern route as risky. In its place, New Delhi has suggested a northern route, to pass through Mazare-Sharif, Jalalabad, Peshawar, Attock, Islamabad and Lahore in Pakistan before entering India through the northern border city of Amritsar.
Indian oil experts have differing opinions on the TAP pipeline. One group favors the project, saying it would be safe because it is funded by Asian Development Bank. The other says there is no guarantee the gas will arrive safely in India through Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"TAP would be safer for being an ADB-sponsored project. The United States, which has a strong presence in Afghanistan, might help ensure safety to the pipeline in Afghanistan and Pakistan," said a senior petroleum ministry official.
Pakistan supports the project, saying it will help meet its own energy needs.
"Pakistan supports the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan gas pipeline as it would boost the regional economies and open up unlimited avenues of prosperity," Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said.
The downside to the TAP project is that neither partner country knows the estimated stock of oil reserves in Turkmenistan. To counterbalance this, India has suggested including Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan in the project to tap Caspian gas reserves.
Patel, the junior Indian Oil Minister, said the "TAP pipeline should start in Azerbaijan and culminate in India." If included, he said, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan could add their considerable oil reserves into TAP to maintain its viability.
Indian energy requirements will reach 34 billion cubic meters in 2010 and 45.3 billion cubic meters by 2015. India is looking to all countries to meet its energy needs.
"We are more interested in gas pipeline than Liquefied Natural Gas as it costs much cheaper despite the fact that arrival of LNG is safer than pipeline," said R.K. Joshi, an Indian Oil Corp. official.
He said India faces difficulties in getting energy from Asia and South Asia as it is surrounded by neighbors like Bangladesh and Pakistan with whom it has poor relations.
India had proposed the construction of a gas pipeline from Myanmar, but Bangladesh was lukewarm in its reaction. New Delhi has now pinned its hopes on TAP. The federal government will take a final decision on whether or not to join TAP after Patel submits his report to the federal Cabinet.
