Local officials on Tuesday said all necessary steps have been taken to start construction work on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline in Herat province.

High level officials from the four countries are expected to attend a ground-breaking ceremony in Herat on Friday to launch the first phase of the construction process.

Local residents have said that the eventual implementation of the multi-million dollar project will help the country boost its economic growth and prosperity.

Meanwhile, residents and a number of scholars called on the Taliban not to attempt to sabotage the project. They said TAPI is a national asset.

“TAPI helps us to move forward towards a new beginning in Afghanistan,” said one resident in Herat Behroz Majidi.

“Today we see that the people express their support for the project,” another resident Ali said.

According to experts the successful implementation of TAPI in Afghanistan will be followed by three more mega projects in the war-ravaged country.

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

Afghanistan is expected to earn $500 million USD in transit duties annually from the project.

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.

"TAPI is a sign of transforming Afghanistan from a confrontation point into a regional and international cooperation point, and the nation not only welcomes the project but most importantly the concept," President Ashraf Ghani said.