Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar says construction work on Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline is in progress despite sanctions on Iran.
Addressing a National Assembly session on Monday, Khar said that Islamabad faced a huge challenge to fund the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline, Iran’s SHANA news agency reported.
She emphasized that Pakistan required $1.5 billion to construct the 781-kilometer pipeline needed for the implementation of the project on its soil.
The foreign minister added that her country is holding talks with Iran to solve the financial constraints.
There is also a suggestion that Iran will allocate a 500 million dollar credit to the project and the remaining financial needs will be met by collecting taxes from gas consumers in Pakistan.
In addition, it is planned Iranian and Pakistani companies form a joint venture for completion of the pipeline inside Pakistan territory.
Under a contract between the two countries, Iran will export annually 7.8 billion cubic meters of gas to the neighboring country as of March 2014.
[mappress] LNG World News Staff, January 23, 2013; Image: NIGC