Islamabad: The much-delayed Turkmenistan- Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project has hit a fresh snag as the Central Asian nation has failed to submit a certification of its gas reserves.

Turkmenistan was to submit a certificate about availability of gas at its Daulatabad field by October one but it had failed to do so, a senior official in the petroleum ministry said. The inordinate delay in submitting the gas availability certificate has marred progress on the project and swelled its cost by 130 per cent to USD 7.6 billion as against the projected cost of USD 3.3 billion in 2004.

"In the days to come, the cost of the project may further increase in view of the projected escalation in the prices of cement, steel and other things required to build the pipeline," the official told The News daily. During talks held here in April between officials of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, New Delhi and Islamabad had made the certification of the gas reserves a mandatory condition for going ahead with the project.

Turkmenistan's Oil and Gas Minister Baymurad Hojamuhamedov had assured the meeting that the report would be submitted within five months. In its latest communication to the Asian Development Bank, which is financially backing the pipeline, Pakistan registered its severe concern over the delay in gas certification by Turkmenistan.

Joint Secretary (development) Taimur Azmat Osman said the gas certification issue will be taken up in the next meeting of the steering committee for the project. He said such issues took time and usually cropped up in projects in which four countries are involved.

Source : PTI