Kabul, Ashgabat discuss acceleration of TAPI project

KABUL (Pajhwok): Acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum Mullah Hidayatullah Badri and TAPI Project Executive Director Mohammad Murad Amanov have discussed issues, including acceleration of work on the gas pipeline scheme.

At a meeting here; the two sides also conferred on the construction of a gas distribution network in western Herat province, the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP) said in a statement.

It said job opportunities for people on the mega project, education scholarships for Afghans, construction of camps and the creation of a gas distribution network in Herat came up for discussion.

Badri promised cooperation in speeding up work on the gas project from the Afghan side. Practical work on the TAPI gas pipeline started on September 11 in Afghanistan.

Alongside TAPI, work also began on fiber optic cables, a new railroad and the Noor-ul-Jihad Substation -- a Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan power project.

The TAPI project, which traverses 1,800 kilometres, including 816 kilometres in Afghanistan, was previously launched in the country in 2016, but practical work could not be initiated.

A 214-kilometre section in Turkmenistan is complete, and work on this ambitious gas scheme  is ongoing in Afghanistan.

kk/mud