Amid escalation of tension in India-Pakistan relations owing to incessant ceasefire violations by the neighbouring country along the line of Control (loC), the significance of energy requirement does not seem to have been lost on the western neighbour as it is urgently seeking gas from New Delhi which is to be sourced through a proposed pipeline that is likely to be set up between Jalandhar and Wagah border via Amritsar.
Sources privy to the development confirmed to The Pioneer that Islamabad had sought New Delhi's help in sourcing gas since that country is highly energy deficient and urgently requires the natural resource to fire up its power plants and meet other needs. Subsequently a few rounds of talks between State-owned Gas Authority of India ltd (GAIl) and Pakistan's inter state gas agency have been held. The last round of negotiations were held in July this year when a delegation consisting of GAIl officials and representatives of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) had gone to lahore.
Though sources informed that due to the rise in ceasefire violations by Pakistan from across the loC there has been a lull in talks, the plan is very much on the anvil as of now. The main point of discussion, according to officials with direct knowledge of the development, is the price of gas to be supplied to Islamabad on per mmBtu (million metric British thermal unit) basis.
With the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project already on the anvil, sources pointed out that if the Jalandhar-Wagah pipeline takes off, then it would be considered as an ideal template for carrying forward the ambitious four nation pipeline project.
The proposed pipeline is going to be 110 kilometres long and will start from Jalandhar in Punjab and will terminate near Wagah (the international border between India and Pakistan) via Amritsar. Sources said that this was the shortest route possible for the project.
GAIl plans to import liquefied natural gas (lNG) which after being converted into gaseous form, would be transported to Pakistan through the proposed pipeline from Jalandhar to Wagah.
New Delhi, they added, is not unduly perturbed about seeking sovereign guarantee from its western neighbour (as projects involving sensitive geographies entail owing to safety issues) but is more interested in establishing a financial institution which would fund the project. The issue of sovereign guarantee is directly linked to the funding of the pipeline and is likely to be addressed when the bank which will finance it, is finalised, sources further said.
Official sources said that though tension prevails between the two nations, the pipeline project is on “concrete footing” as things stand today, though as to what would be the future course of action on it is something that cannot be speculated upon.
Once the price issue and the funding aspect are resolved, the contract signing process is likely to begin, they added.
Pakistan is a highly energy deficient country and currently faces huge power deficits as its electricity generation capacity is about 20,000 MW, which is even less than India's renewable energy generation capacity.