Work on the Afghanistan section of the key Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project, that will feed natural gas to the three countries from Turkmenistan, will kick off in Herat on Friday.

Ministry of Mines and Petroleum says the project will provide $500 million USD annually in transit duties to Afghanistan.

He said Afghanistan will also get 500 million cubic meters of gas for the first ten years and one billion cubic meters for another 20 years.

“TAPI is not only a gas project but it has the same importance as an economic corridor,” Abdulqadeer Mutfi, spokesman for the ministry, told TOLOnews.

President Ashraf Ghani, who arrived in Herat on Thursday night, will attend Friday’s ceremony.

“..(Friday’s) ceremony includes the inauguration of work on TAPI project, and the 500 kilovolt power project of Turkmenistan, which involves Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkmenistan,” Ghani’s spokesman Shahhussain Murtazawi said.

According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industries, the pipeline project will be used to improve industries in the country.

“The gas provided by this project to Afghanistan will be used for the improvement of industries and factories in the country,” said Feroz Masjidi, deputy minister of policy and planning for commerce and industries.

The launch of the project has meanwhile revived hopes among the people for an improved economic and political landscape in the country.

“The prominent aim of the Heart of Asia Integration Trend is supporting the regional projects of the National Unity Government of Afghanistan. The second goal is to raise public awareness on the importance of these projects,” head Heart of Asia Nations Integration Trend, Muhibullah Nawrozi, said.

TAPI will transport gas from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India via a 1,814km pipeline.

In Afghanistan, the TAPI pipeline will be constructed alongside the Kandahar–Herat Highway in western Afghanistan, and then via Quetta and Multan in Pakistan.

A ground-breaking ceremony will be held in Herat on Friday as construction on the Afghanistan section gets underway.

The final destination of the pipeline will be the Indian town of Fazilka, near its border with Pakistan.

The pipeline will be 1,814 kilometers long and will have the capacity of transferring 33 billion cubic meters of gas from Turkmenistan to Pakistan and India through Herat, Farah, Helmand and Nimroz provinces of Afghanistan.