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Iran-India energy cooperation opens new horizons

While the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline may sound the death knell to the Iran-Pakistan-India project, the Middle East to India Deepwater Pipeline may deliver Iranian gas to India through an undersea pipeline.
EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Iran.

A view of the gas field development section of South Pars Special Economic Energy Zone in Asalouyeh, Seaport, 900 km (560 miles) southwest of Tehran July 19, 2010. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY BUSINESS) - RTR2GJLU

Last month, Turkmenistan began construction of an ambitious $7.6 billion pipeline to export natural gas to India via Afghanistan and Pakistan. The project, known as TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India), will supply 33 million cubic meters of gas per day to India through a 1,814-kilometer (1,127-mile) pipeline. If finished on schedule, it is slated to become operational by the end of 2019.

Some energy analysts see the long-delayed launch of TAPI as the death knell to the stalled Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) project, which — similar to TAPI — has seen years of planning and negotiations and was supposed to supply India with almost the same amount of natural gas per year.

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