Cutting cross party lines, Congress, SAD and BJP MPs have welcomed the TAPI project that will provide a major boost to power plants and other gas-based ancillary units in the state. Minister Petroleum S Jaipal Reddy is slated to visit Turkmenistan next week to sign a sale and purchase agreement. Sukhbir Badal, Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, who was in Delhi today, said: “The TAPI project will revolutionise Punjab. It will help in industrialisation.” Punjab is already on the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) pipeline grid. Congress MP from Gurdaspur Pratap Singh Bajwa, who is member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas, said the Centre should now sanction a Fazilka-Ludhiana-Patiala line. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Avinash Rai Khanna said Punjab would benefit immensely provided the GAIL pipeline network was expanded. Akali MP in the Rajya Sabha Naresh Gujral agreed with him. The MPs feel the project will boost real estate and services sectors.The TAPI gas pipeline is envisaged to be 1680 km long (144 km in Turkmenistan, 735 km in Afghanistan and 800 km in Pakistan). The project is expected to be operational in 2018. — TNS