India awaits Iran offer for talks on IPI

"We had last month asked Iran to convene a trilateral ministerial meeting to resolve the outstanding issues so as to pave way for signing of an agreement on the pipeline project but they have so far not communicated any dates," a senior Petroleum Ministry official said.     

Petroleum Minister Murli Deora had followed last month's letter to Iran with a meeting between his Iranian counterpart Gholam-Hossein Nozari in Madrid to press for an early meeting.

The two had agreed to conclude the contract by August. But Tehran so far has not communicated any dates.     

New Delhi wants to resolve the issue of price revision clause being sort by Iran before making up its mind on signing of the pipeline pact.

Iran and Pakistan have initiated a Gas Sales Purchase Agreement, wherein they have agreed to a price review mechanism but New Delhi is opposed to attempts by Tehran to reopen the price already sealed, the official said.     

India and Pakistan have resolved all bilateral issues including transit fee which saw New Delhi boycotting IPI pipeline talks for about a year.     

India has more or less agreed to give Pakistan a transit fee of $200 million per year, which is equivalent to $0.60 per million British thermal unit for allowing passage of the pipeline through that country.