The world of wind energy in India

In a bid to boost investment in non-conventional energy projects, Rajasthan has announced a new wind power policy which increases the amount of electricity companies can purchase from these units and offers subsidies in electricity taxes. According to the new policy, cleared Monday night at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, power transmission companies in the state can now buy 400 MW of power generated by wind energy sources. Earlier, this limit was set at 350 MW. Besides, wind power companies will be given 50 percent discount for seven years on electricity tax. Industries using non-conventional energy will also be given concessions.

This is the third policy on wind power announced in four years. The first was announced in February 2000 and the second in April 2003. The need for a new policy was felt as an investment of over Rs.30 billion was expected to be made in wind power projects and the state government was finding it difficult to purchase all the power produced by these units. Up until now, Rs. 8 billion in investments has been pumped into this sector of the state. And in the current fiscal year, investments of over Rs. 6 billion are expected to come in for the wind energy sector. Incidentally, Rajasthan has a gross wind power potential of 5,400 MW, higher than Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, the current leaders in wind power generation.