With the natural gas all set to reach Uttarakhand, the government-owned State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (Sidcul) is holding talks with GAIL to set up two 300-Mw gas-based plants at Kashipur and Haridwar areas.
“We have already held talks with senior officials of GAIL to set up gas-based power plants in Uttarakhand,” said a top official of the Sidcul.
This is the first diversification move by Sidcul which had set up several key industrial estates like Pantnagar and Haridwar in the hill state.
GAIL is constructing two pipelines to bring them to Kashipur and Haridwar areas in the hill state from Uttar Pradesh in one year’s time. Since the industries are currently facing the heat of the power crisis in the hill state, the Sidcul is taking the new initiative to provide gas-based energy to these industries which includes some of India’s big names like Nestle, Tata Motors and Hero Honda.
GAIL began constructions of these pipelines last year with the construction of Karanpur-Moradabad-Kashipur-Rudrapur pipeline in the first phase with a cost of Rs 250 crore. The pipeline will be 182 km in length. Similarly, the other pipeline is being brought from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh to Haridwar district of the state.
Besides this, Sidcul has also evinced interest in the city-based gas distribution. With the people in the hill state facing shortage of LPG cylinders, the Sidcul is also gearing up to prepare a blueprint for the city-based gas distribution in cities like Dehradun.
