The Centre has approved Rs 5,560 crore to support for a natural gas pipeline in the northeast part of the country, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Wednesday.

The 1,656 kilometre pipeline is part of a national gas grid which India is building to connect remote locations.

The project will cost up to Rs 9,265 crore, Pradhan said.

“India is ready to face challenges from the current geopolitical issues in the Middle East,” Reuters quoted Pradhan as saying, referring to the current escalation of tensions between the US and Iran.

Iran launched a missile attack on US-led forces in Iraq in the early hours of Wednesday, hours after the funeral of an Iranian commander whose killing in a US drone strike has raised fears of a wider war in the Middle East.

Tehran fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles from Iranian territory against at least two Iraqi military bases hosting US-led coalition personnel, the US military said on Tuesday.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards confirmed that they fired the rockets in retaliation for last week's killing of Qassem Soleimani, according to state TV.

First Published:Jan 8, 2020 3:27 PM IST