New Delhi, May 23, SPA — A natural gas pipeline from Myanmar to India could be operational in five years, an Indian government official said Monday.

&#34As matters stand, it will take one year for government clearances, another one year for the project”s financial closure and a further three years for the construction of the pipeline,&#34 which would connect the two countries through Bangladesh, India”s Petroleum Secretary Sushil Tripathi told reporters.

India, Bangladesh and Myanmar reached an agreement on the pipeline project earlier this year. The 290-kilometer (180-mile) pipeline would cost US$2 billion (€1.54 billion).

&#34We are looking at importing up to 40 million cubic meters of gas a day through this pipeline,&#34 Dow Jones Newswires quoted Tripathi as saying.