Deora to visit Pakistan on Apr 21 for IPI talks

{image-iran-india-pak flag1_09042008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Islamabad, Apr 9 : India's Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora will arrive here on April 21 for talks with his Pakistani counterpart Khawaja Muhammad Asif.

Petroleum Ministry sources here said both ministers would hold talks on the transit fee of the Iran-Pakistan-Indian (IPI) gas pipeline project. Asif, however, refused to go into details about the visit, pleading with the media that he had just taken over. Pakistan and Iran have finalised Gas Sales Purchase Agreement (GSPA) on the IPI, but India has so far stayed away from talks pending resolution of the issue of transit fee.

Asif, who was the chief guest at the inaugural session of the Second International Exhibition and Conference on LPG Industry, said that it was the government's intention to procure additional local LPG production and to set up additional LPG auto-gas stations.

He said local LPG production could be increased by 900 metric tonnes per day or by over 50 percent, thereby easing the country's energy crisis with the availability of affordable product.

ANI