In the wake of Iran's nuclear agreement with the P5+1 (the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China, and Russia, plus Germany), opening the door for Iranian exports of its hydrocarbons, the moribund Iranian - Indian Gas Pipeline Project is being revived with great fanfare.

Known as the SAGE pipeline (for South Asia Gas Enterprises Ltd., the Indian company leading the project) or the Middle East to India Deepwater Pipeline (MEIDP), the trans-Arabian pipeline would be one of the longest and deepest oil or gas pipelines ever built, running for 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) at depths of more than two miles underwater from the Iranian port of Char Bahar to India's Gujarat. Projected to cost $4.5 billion, the new pipeline would bring 1.1 billion standard cubic feet of gas a day to India, roughly doubling the country’s gas imports and bringing much-needed energy to the country.

Pakistan has often been mentioned in the past as a critical transit land, but continued geopolitical tension between Pakistan and India as well as advances in undersea pipe laying technologies has prompted India to look at offshore alternatives.

At the same time, the Iran-India pipeline would face unique technical challenges. For one thing, most undersea pipelines run relatively close to shore, easing the challenges of construction, repair, and resupply. The Iran-India route is hundreds of miles out to sea - and it runs across an underwater fault line associated with the Owen Fracture Zone, an active seismic area.

“Negotiations are under serious consideration and we welcome India's participation,” said National Iranian Gas Export Company managing director Alireza Kameli at the ongoing World Energy Policy Summit in New Dehli.