NEW DELHI: The government has invited the industry to explore India’s first offshore wind energy project proposal, following its plans to achieve 5 GW project capacity by 2022 in this area which has not yet been explored in the country.The offshore wind resource base in India makes for a strong case, but such projects involve higher upfront investment, and the success of this venture will depend on whether the government decides to subsidise the sector, industry experts say.“The global expression of interest (EoI) is intended to shortlist prospective offshore wind energy developers for a 1000 MW offshore wind energy project in Gulf of Khambat, off the coast of Gujarat,” an official statement from the Ministry of new and renewable energy said on Wednesday.Power from wind and solar sources in India have reached grid parity after tariffs fell to as low as Rs 2.43 per unit in the wind auction conducted by solar energy corporation of India in December last year. Even as tariffs have seen some northward movement in recent solar and wind auctions, they still hover below Rs 3 per unit.While MNRE maintains that offshore wind has become globally 'competitive and comparable' in terms of tariffs, some developers raise concerns.“At this point, tariffs for offshore wind would be around Rs. 7 per unit. Now the question is whether the government will allow such tariffs,” said an industry player who did not wish to be quoted.The government should take the feed-in-tariff (FiT) route to get at least the first offshore wind tender going, the person added.“Development of offshore wind is a timely progression for India. The resource offers much higher PLFs that position it closer to base load generation, and now with larger sized turbines (from 4 MW to 8 MW range) it is much more viable,” said Kameswara Rao , leader-energy, utilities and mining, at PwC India Chennai-based national institute of wind energy (NIWE) is the nodal agency to carry out the necessary studies and surveys before final bidding and will act as a single window for facilitating necessary clearances required for development of offshore wind project in India, the statement added.