India Proposed Hydrocarbon Pipeline from Kazakhstan

India in the month of March 2013 proposed the idea of a hydrocarbon pipeline with Kazakhstan that is intended to bring fuel through a five-nation route.

The concept of the pipeline, unveiled could be in future extended to Russia.Officials said currently most hydrocarbon pipelines from Central Asia are on an east-west axis. This pipeline will, like TAPI, be on a north-south axis, providing a new route to South Asia for hydrocarbons extracted from Central Asia.

Significance of the Proposed Pipeline

• The proposed pipeline would cover about 1500 kms (no study has yet been done), thus making it longer than the planned Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline which will serve as the role model.
• It will head from the former Silk Road caravanserai city of Shymkent, known today for oil refining, and enter Uzbekistan.
• From there it will go to Afghanistan and then follow the route to be taken by the TAPI pipeline into India via Pakistan.
• It has the potential to be extended to Russia resolving the headache of transportation that has vexed Indian energy security managers when they scout for hydrocarbon collaboration with Moscow.

India and Kazakhstan also plan to cooperate closely in Afghanistan where New Delhi’s aid model has been appreciated by the Central Asian countries all of whom have a vital stake in stabilising the country.