Pakistan, India, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan on Thursday agreed to start construction of a gas pipeline project involving the four nations in the year 2010. Ministers from all four countries had earlier held a two-day discussion starting on Wednesday to finalise the modalities. The second meeting of the technical working group of the four countries was held on Thursday before a joint press conference by the four ministers. The discussions were facilitated by a team of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) led by country director Peter Fedon. The gas pipeline project, to be completed at a cost of $7.6 billion, will start supplying 3.2 billion cubic feet of gas per day through a 56-inch diameter pipeline starting from Dauletabad Field in Turkmenistan to Fazilka on the Pakistan-India border, passing through Herat and Kandhar in Afghanistan and Multan in Pakistan. The project cost estimate was $3.3 billion in 2004, which has now been updated to $7.6 billion. The price increase was due to a sharp increase in the price of steel, increase in construction costs and increase in the cost of compressor stations. "The 10th steering committee of ministers from Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India have agreed to start construction work on the much-delayed Tapi (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India) pipeline project in 2010," the host minister for petroleum and natural resources of Pakistan, Khawaja Mohammad Asif, told reporters at the press conference, with Turkmen minister for oil and gas industry Baymurad Hojamuhamedov, Afghan minister of mines Mohammad Ibrahim Adel and India's petroleum and natural gas minister Murli Deora standing by. The Pakistani minister said that despite the significant increase in project cost estimates, it was still considered as economically and financially viable. The Turkmen minister said that huge new gas reserves had been found in Turkmenistan and the government was awarding the contract for certification of reserves of various gas fields to a British consultant by the end of this month. Mr Murli Deora said the next meeting of the technical working group, as well as that of the steering committee, would be held in New Delhi soon. The Indian minister went on to add that he would hold discussions with Pakistani officials on Friday on the on-off scheme to construct a gas pipeline from Iran to India through Pakistan. "We are interested in both the projects as we need gas," Mr Deora said. Mr Deora is also expected to explore the possibility of India exporting diesel to Pakistan during Friday's meeting. Mr Deora had earlier cancelled a visit to Pakistan, which prompted Islamabad to say that it might sign the agreement with Iran bilaterally. Islamabad is seeking 0.493 dollars per million British thermal unit as transit fee, while New Delhi has offered 0.15 dollars per unit, or $60 million a year. The differences on tariffs have been narrowed but are yet to be resolved. While the United States supports the concept of a pipeline from Turkmenistan that would help Afghanistan, Washington has tried to discourage India and Pakistan from dealing with Iran because of Tehran's sus pected nuclear ambitions. But both India and Pakistan are under intense pressure to secure energy supplies needed to fuel their economies, which rank among the fastest growing in the world. The issue of energy cooperation between Iran and India will top the agenda when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes a short refuelling halt in New Delhi next Tuesday, his first official visit to the country. Last October, Pakistani and Iranian officials had reached an agreement on details of the project, including provisions for a price review.