Iran and India are expected to sign a long-proposed deal on the construction of an undersea gas pipeline worth $4.5m in total, as an alternative to a similar project via Pakistan, Economic Times reported. The undersea pipeline, which is to be constructed in cooperation with Indian major players – Indian Oil Ltd and GAIL – is planned to transport up to 31mcm/d of gas. 

It was reported that Turkmenistan also intends to ship gas through the 1,400km long pipeline to Iran, and in turn, Tehran will transfer similar quantity to India under a swap agreement between Iran and the Central Asian country, Press TV informed. 

Additionally, other countries such as Oman may also become part of the agreement at a later stage, mainly due to its geographical proximity. Iran and Oman have already signed a deal worth b to build an undersea pipeline to ship 20mcm/d of gas to the Sultanate for a period of 25 years.