Key facts
- Turkmenistan said at an Ashgabat energy forum in late October 2026 that TAPI would be commissioned by the end of 2026.
- Satellite images made on November 7 showed the pipeline reaching a construction zone about 22 kilometers west of Herat.
- The section of pipeline to Herat has cost Ashgabat a reported $600 million, per the report.
- Pakistan's ambassador Faryal Leghari said Islamabad was committed to advancing TAPI.
- Turkmenistan's Galkynysh gas fields would feed the planned 1,800-kilometer line to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
Turkmenistan said at an energy forum in Ashgabat in late October 2026 that the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline had reached "the outskirts of Herat" and would be "commissioned by the end of 2026," RFE/RL reported on November 11. Satellite images made on November 7 showed the pipeline running from Turkmenistan's southern border to a construction zone around 22 kilometers west of Herat's industrial district, a location the report said matches a Taliban government description of a planned offtake station.
TAPI is a planned 1,800-kilometer gas pipeline meant to link Turkmenistan's Galkynysh gas fields to consumers in Afghanistan, Pakistan and eventually India. The project was first envisioned in the 1990s, but fighting in Afghanistan and disputes among the participating countries repeatedly set it back. India appeared to have turned its back on TAPI by 2024 and Pakistan's interest also faded around the same time, according to the report. Projected costs of up to $10 billion and repeated delays led some analysts to question Turkmenistan's commitment.
John M. Roberts, a UK-based senior fellow with the Atlantic Council, told RFE/RL that Turkmenistan had become so focused on the project that it did whatever it could to show it was still moving. He said the fact that Turkmenistan had put its own money into the line to Herat may lead it to seek a partnership to extend the pipeline to Kandahar and Pakistan. The section to Herat has cost Ashgabat a reported $600 million, the report said.
At the same forum, Pakistan's ambassador to Turkmenistan, Faryal Leghari, said Islamabad was now "committed" to advancing the pipeline. Roberts said the key question was whether Turkmenistan could secure Chinese financial support, given the project's size. Afghanistan has floated the idea of Russia investing in the pipeline's onward route, and Kabul would receive hundreds of millions of dollars in annual transit fees if the line were extended into Pakistan and India, according to the report.
Afghans who witnessed construction in Afghan territory told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that work had faced difficulties including unexploded ordnance along the route. They said Turkmen engineers and equipment carried out the work, with Afghan involvement limited to armed security at the sites. The report said Afghanistan was only scheduled to receive about 5 percent of the pipeline's gas flow, with Pakistan and India splitting the remaining 95 percent equally.
In Herat, where gas prices have risen and electricity shortages have disrupted factories in recent months, residents welcomed the pipeline's approach. Herat local Abu Ali called it "a real sign of hope." Abdul Saboor Rahmani, a 27-year-old software engineer, said residents wanted transparent access to the gas at a small markup to the global market price.