For this purpose, the government has already roped in Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) to jointly examine various project opportunities for natural gas and undertake extension of the National Gas Grid to Uttarakhand.
A possible pact with other private players like Reliance Industries is also being explored, official sources said.
After the declaration of state's new hill industrial policy this year, power demand in the state, which is around 20 to 22 million units, is likely to increase by 17 to 20 percent annually as industries continue to set up new units in the state.
The State Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (SIDCUL), which has developed several modern industrial estates, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GAIL to give a fillip to gas-based energy projects. And now, a feasibility report is being prepared on the gas-based projects.
An assessment exercise for natural gas and allied products is also being conducted in the state. It will also promote usage of gas like Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) in the state.
GAIL's existing HBJ (Hazira-Bijaipur-Jagdishpur) trunk pipeline networks in Uttar Pradesh and its nearest tapping point is at Bareilly from where clean fuel could be made available to Uttarakhand via two routes, sources said.
The first route will lay a pipeline network to Rudrapur, Ramnagar and Haldwani from Bareilly. The other route would be an extension of gas pipeline from Dadri, sources added.
