U'khand seeks tie-up with Gail for gas-based plants

With Gail India approving plans to bring gas pipeline to Uttarakhand, the government has asked the Centre to supply 3 million standard cubic meters per day (mscmd) of gas to the hill state and said it was keen to set up gas-based power plants in joint partnership with the state-run entity.

Following talks between Gail India CMD B C Tripathi and Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank here yesterday, a top government official said the company had agreed to bring gas to the Garhwal region from the Dadri-Bhatinda pipeline from Saharanpur. This pipeline can be extended to Haridwar where gas-based power plants can also be established.

“We are interested in joint ventures with Gail India for setting up gas-based power plants in Uttarakhand,” the official told Business Standard after the meeting.

Similarly, the Gail’s gas project via Karanpur and Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh to the two industrial towns of Rudrapur and Kashipur is likely to give a tremendous boost to hundreds of existing industries in Kumaon region which are facing power shortage.

The government also sees vast scope for private developers to set up such plants in both Garhwal and Kumaon region. This would also give further flip to industrialisation in the region as vast notified industrial land is still available there.

The government had already roped in Gail to examine various project opportunities for natural gas and undertake extension of the National Gas Grid to Uttarakhand.

The power demand in the state, which is presently hovering around 26 to 27 million units, is likely to grow by 10 to 15 per cent every year due to urbanisation and industrialisation in the state.

The State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarankhand Limited (Sidcul), a state government enterprise, which has developed several modern industrial estates, had signed an MoU with Gail to give fillip to gas-based energy projects.

Meanwhile, in a separate letter to the Union petroleum ministry, the government has called for the immediate supply of 3 MMSCMD gas to the state to meet its various requirements, which also include supply to gas-based power projects.