The Meghalaya government on Wednesday said it wants to tie up with private power producers for the development of its shale gas assets in the state.
“Meghalaya has a lot of shale gas potentiality, but lacks the technical know-how for its development,” Power Principal Secretary J P Prakash said.
At a conference on ‘Empowering the North East-overcoming challenges in development of the power sector in the NE India’ here, he said: “The state desires to tie up with private power producers for developing shale gas in the state. We urge Independent Power Producers Association of India to induce private companies which are experts in the field to invest in the state.”
A detailed study on the amount of shale gas present in the state is being conducted by a Mumbai-based company, he said.
Shale gas is a natural gas within shale formations under the earth’s crust.
Chief Secretary W M S Pariat asked IPPAI to submit its recommendations and inputs emerging from the conference to the state government.
Claiming that North East was not only a power hub for the country, but for the South East region, Pariat, however, stressed on the need to bring society in tune with projects undertaken.
Stating that the issue of land acquisition needed to be looked into, the chief secretary said: “Land acquisition is a difficult aspect with the unique land tenure of the state, but, it is ensured that land for power projects is acquired through government.”
He said that it was also important to take local sensitivity into account when planning for setting up of hydel power projects.