Work continues on the long-stalled Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline, popularly known as TAPI gas pipeline, with Afghanistan completing another 3 kilometers of the pipeline in western Herat province. 

The Taliban-led Afghan government is pursuing a strategy of phased construction in an attempt to demonstrate that it can conduct the project securely and also prove it can be trusted to execute initially stalled multi-lateral projects in cooperation with its neighbours.

The CEO of the TAPI Project, Muhammetmurad Amanov, assured progress during a meeting with Herat Governor Sheikh Maulana Islamjar, adding that the extension of the gas pipeline was progressing at a fast pace. 

Homayoun Afghan, spokesman for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, reported said that almost three kilometres (1.8 miles) of the pipeline had been laid and welded while the route preparation was under way for another 3.4 kilometres (2.1 miles). 

The TAPI project, inaugurated on September 10, 2024, aims to transport natural gas from Turkmenistan's Galkynysh gas field through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India. The pipeline is designed to deliver 33 billion cubic meters of gas annually, with 5% going to Afghanistan and 47.5% each to Pakistan and India.

The project is seen as key to regional economic integration and diversification of Turkmenistan's energy exports. Upon completion, it has the potential to earn Afghanistan US$1 billion in transit fees yearly and create more than 12,000 jobs.

Though much has been accomplished, hurdles such as rising project cost from an estimated $7 to $8 billion needed for completion, a range of security concerns and complicated political relationships between participating countries remain a problem.