Pakistan has responded positively to the Indian proposal for gas and product pipelines to the country.
“I can assure you both sides are working overtime to hasten the process,” Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit said in a conversation with The Hindu on Friday. He stressed that Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif — a guest during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inaugural — had stated his intention to import 500 megawatts of power from India.
OptimisticThe Pakistani diplomat was optimistic that one or two projects could materialise quickly. “We are working towards it… [the experts are] hammering out technical details… some private players are also interested in exporting energy to Pakistan,” he observed.
Official sources said the gas would be first imported to the LNG terminal at Dahej on the south-west coast of Gujarat.
From there, it will be transported along the existing pipeline network to Jalandhar, which would become the transit hub for Pakistan, connected by a new 103-km pipeline, which Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) plans to build.
Besides, the new products pipeline proposes to transport diesel and kerosene from the Bhatinda refinery in Punjab to Lahore.
