New Delhi: The Union Cabinet today approved the proposal of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas to permit GA1L( India) Limited to sign the Gas Sale & Purchase Agreement (GSPA) with TurrnenGas, Turkmenistan's national oil company, for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline Project.

The TAPI Gas Pipeline is envisaged to be 1680 Km in length (144 Km in Turkmenistan, 735 Kin in Afghanistan & 800 Km in Pakistan) with a capacity of 90 MMSCMD of gas, with 38 MMSCMD each for India and Pakistan and the remaining 14 MMSCMD for Afghanistan. The Pipeline is expected to be operational in 2018 and supply gas over a 30 years period.

The source of the gas is the South Yoiotan Osman field, recently renamed Galkynysh, which has been certified by a reputed international consultant to be holding proven recoverable gas reserves of 16 trillion cubic metres.

The provisions of the GSPA have been structured to protect India's commercial interests as India is at the tail end of the pipeline. Afghanistan and Pakistan have committed to the safety and security of the pipeline through the Inter-Governmental Agreement and the Gas Purchase Framework Agreement signed among the four countries in December, 2010.