Bangladesh says it will consider proposals for the construction of a pipeline that would allow the export gas from Burma to India.

The Bangladeshi energy minister Mosharraf Hossain said an expert committee would assess the viability of the two-and-half billion dollar project, but he dismissed speculation that the pipeline would also be used to export gas from Bangladesh to India. The minister said that because of the high level of foreign investment and potential revenue from the pipeline, Bangladesh had no objection in principle to the project. A number of groups, including the main opposition party, the Awami league, believe that Bangladesh should not export gas to other countries until it has secured supplies for its own domestic needs.

However, those who favour export say the country could earn about five-hundred-million dollars a year.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service