NEW DELHI, Feb. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- India has achieved a major breakthrough in its negotiations with Iran, which has agreed to deliver gas through a pipeline at a border point, the state-owned gas major GAIL (India) Limited said Thursday.

    "In the ongoing discussions between India and Iran on the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, the National Iranian Gas Export Co. (NIGEC) has agreed to have the delivery point of gas at Indian border," the Indo-Asian News Service quoted GAIL as saying in a statement.

    GAIL has been authorized by the petroleum ministry to handle all negotiations for the import of gas through a pipeline from Iran via Pakistan.

    During discussions with a four-member NIGEC team led by M. H. Rahbari, the company chairman, "it was decided that a Broad Overarching Agreement between the three countries (India, Iran andPakistan) would be desirable to conclude the issue expeditiously,"said the statement.

    GAIL has been asked to provide all information related to the Indian side to complete the detailed feasibility study for the pipeline by June this year.

    The negotiations on the delivered price of gas at the Indian border will be concluded by June, when Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar is expected to visit Iran.

    Energy-starved India is seeking around 100 million metric standard cubic meters of gas per day (MMSCMD) through the proposedIran pipeline in addition to the 7.5 million tons annual supply ofLiquefied Natural Gas for which an agreement was reached in January.

    "The two sides will again meet in Tehran later this month to examine critical commercial conditions such as quantity, price andsecurity of supplies, delivery point and alternative routes of supplying the gas to the Indian border," said GAIL. Enditem