Turkmenistan is reportedly charging three times higher price than what India has committed to Iran and if India agrees to it then India-Iran pipeline project would be in jeopardy.Indian news agency PTI has reported that India has made a counter proposal of $200-$230 per thousand cubic meters in Turkmenistan gas deal. On the other hand, Turkmenistan has expressed that in case of non-materialization of gas deal, it will export the same gas to Russia and China.

 

Evidently, the deal between India and Turkmenistan for the gas from its Dauletabad fields (Turkmenistan) will be transported through Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline. Experts are suspicious about the wisdom of the deal as they think that after adding transportation costs and transit fee payable to Afghanistan and Pakistan, India will get gas at the price of $18 per MBTU (Million British Thermal Unit).

 

On the other hand, the deal with Iran will be able to deliver the same gas at the rate of $5.56 per MBTU through Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline. If India strikes a deal under TAPI route, under the new prices which are three times higher than Iran deal, stir may come from Iran. There has already been a resistant voice coming from a former Iranian deputy oil minister Nejad Hossenian that Iran would suffer heavy losses with IPI project.