"I will be in Bangladesh during January 8--10 and then go to Yangon," Aiyar told reporters here on Monday, adding, "One of my agenda will be the Myanmar-India gas pipeline.

Aiyar is expected to be part of Indian delegation for the Saarc summit headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Indian officials say Bangladesh is likely to earn about $125 million a year in transit fee for the proposed pipeline, which will pass from western Myanmarese province of Arakan to northeastern Indian states of Mizoram and Tripura, pass through Bangladesh and reach West Bengal.

The issue of the pipeline came up for discussion between Aiyar and Bangladesh Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan during the latter's visit to Delhi in May-June this year soon after the Congress-led government assumed office. Khan at that time said that Dhaka would favourably consider the pipeline proposal.

The pipeline through Bangladesh territory is one of the options India is mulling over to transport the gas struck in offshore Myanmar where the overseas investment arm of India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has a 20 percent stake. Among the other options is an under-sea pipeline which will be more expensive than the overland route.

Bangladesh favours joint management of the project with India and wants use of the pipeline to either export gas to India or import the same from Myanmar for its own use, sources said.

The pipeline project from Myanmar is part of India's stepped-up efforts to scout for gas and crude oil abroad to meet the growing needs of one of the fastest growing economies of the world.

Now India's average gas production is 90 million standard cubic meter per day (mscmd) against the domestic demand of 120 mscmd and this is estimated to go up to 400 mscmd by 2020.

Domestic production will not be enough to meet the demand of the Indian economy if it grows by 7-8 percent per year, said Aiyar.

India is trying to acquire a share of hydrocarbon reserves in several countries including Iran, Russia, Angola, Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Nigeria, Central Asian countries, and Francophone Africa. The overseas investment wing of ONGC has invested nearly five billion dollars abroad in the last three years.