Khaama Press
November 26, 2015

The groundbreaking ceremony of the long delayed $10 billion Trans-Afghanistan gas pipeline will take place in Turkmenistan on 13th December, it has been reported.

Work on 1,735-km Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project will start on 13th December, according to the Turkmenistan ambassador to Pakistan, Atadjan Movlamov.

High level Afghan government officials including, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani who was invited by his counterpart President Berdymuhamedov earlier this month, will attend the ceremony.

The state-run gas company – Turkmengaz, which was named project consortium leader for TAPI Pipeline Company Limited in August, will kickoff the construction of the gas pipline.

Having a vital for the economic growth of the regional countries, project will create job opportunities for tens of thousands people in the region besides pouring millions of dollars in revenue to Afghanistan every year.

The United States government and Asian Development Bank will support the mega project that will run more than 700 km across Afghanistan on its way to Pakistan and India.

The pipeline is expected to last for 30 years with a proposed annual capacity of 33 bcm of gas which would be filled with gas from Turkmenistan’s mammoth Galkynysh field.

It is estimated that the gas pipeline will become operational once the construction work has been completed in December 2018.