Islamabad: The possibility of reviving the multi-billion-Dollar Iran-India gas pipeline project will figure prominently during talks between the Pakistani leadership and the visiting Iranian Minister for Petroleum, officials said.

The 1,650 km long project to be laid through Pakistan, which has failed to make any headway due to Indo-Pak differences, will be taken up for discussion during the visit of Hijan Namdar Zanjaneh who arrived on February 21, Petroleum Ministry officials said.

Estimated to cost about $ 4 billion, the project also came up for discussion when Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Karazi visited Islamabad in December 2001.

Both sides had then agreed that a decision on it would be taken after the completion of the feasibility study. Also a committee has been formed by both the countries to submit a detailed report.

Pakistan, which is expected to receive $ 600-800 million in royalties alone, has maintained that it has no objections to the project and is ready to provide the required security guarantees.

According to preliminary studies, the pipeline covered a distance of 1550 km from Iran to Pakistan and another 100 km from Pakistan to India.

PTI