Why India needs to expedite transnational pipeline project?

India aims to increase the share of natural gas in its energy mix from existing 6.3 percent to 15 percent by 2030. To achieve this, the country must both produce more gas domestically and source more from countries.

India depends on gas imports for roughly half of its gas needs. With the global energy crisis, transnational gas pipelines—which run between different nations to supply gas—are of utmost importance to India. Transnational pipelines are more cost effective than shipping.

In 2008, India had signed a project framework for a transnational pipeline for supplying gas from Turkmenistan which would pass through Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, there has been minimal progress in the project.