India sets Target of 15,000 MW of wind Energy during 12th plan period

The Government has set a target of 15000 MW of wind power to be installed during 12^th Plan period.

The capital expenditure for setting up one MW wind power project is approximately Rs.6 crores.

A total capacity of 18551 MW from wind energy has already been established in the country.

This is around 9% of the total installed power capacity in the country.

The Government has been promoting wind power projects through private sector investment by providing fiscal and promotional incentives such as 80% Accelerated Depreciation, concessional import duty on certain components of wind electric generators, excise duty exemption to manufacturers. 10 years tax holiday on income generated from wind power projects is also available. Loans for installing windmills are available from Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) and other Financial Institutions. Technical support including wind resource assessment is provided by the Centre for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET), Chennai. This apart, preferential tariff is being provided in potential states. A Generation Based Incentives (GBI) was available from December 2009 to 31^st March 2012, under which Rs. 0.50/unit generated from wind power projects was provided to the projects which did not avail Accelerated Depreciation (AD) benefit.