The Cabinet which is scheduled to meet on Wednesday (October 27) in Governor House Lahore will approve revised Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement (GPFA) of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project. To be presided over by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the Cabinet will also give concurrence to the proposals of the Federal Board of Revenue with regard to taxation on the pipeline.
TAPI gas pipeline project aims to bring natural gas from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. The project was originally conceived as Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) gas pipeline project for which the Heads of State of three countries signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) in May 2002. This provided for governmental commitments for the project.
Subsequently, a GPFA was signed by heads of states/governments of the three countries in December 2002, giving a broad organisational structure of the gas pipeline project and various contractual arrangements/facilitation of the parties required for supply of Turkmen gas to Pakistan through Afghanistan.
In April 2008, revised GPFA was initialled to incorporate Indian induction to the project thus making it Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) project. From Pakistan side, the revised GPFA was initialled by the then Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources as a member of the steering committee from Pakistan side under the terms of IGA. The initialled TAPI-GPFA was circulated by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Resources to the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the FBR and the Law Division.
During the TAPI steering committee meeting held on 20th September 2010 at Ashgabat, all four countries have initialled a revised GPFA that incorporates following amendments: (i) change of gasfield source from Daulatabad to South Yoloten/Osman; (ii) change of GSPA finalisation date from December 31, 2008 to December 31, 2010; and (iii) revision of Clause 31 on taxation to make it abundantly clear that the FBR views would be accommodated. The revised GPFA was initialled by the Ministry of Natural Resources from the Pakistan side. The revised TAPI GPFA has been submitted for approval and for authorisation to the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources.
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