India, one of the global leaders in wind power installations, has set a target of installing 15,000 MW of wind energy in the country during the 12th Plan period. With a cumulative installation of 18,551 MW from wind energy till date, the wind energy has proved to be the fastest growing renewable energy source in the country.

Wind power generation in India has been seen as a potential component for realising the goal of 15 per cent of renewable power in the country’s energy mix by 2020 under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). Due to logistical and geographical advantage, the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan are on the forefront of wind power installations in the country.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has been promoting wind power projects through private sector investment by providing several fiscal and promotional incentives. The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) is helping the investors through soft loans and the Centre for Wind Energy Technology (C-WET) is helping with technical and resource assessment of the potential wind energy sites.

Two of the financial incentives that brought about an enhanced investment in the Indian wind industry were the accelerated depreciation (AD) and the generation based incentive (GBI), and the country saw an unprecedented installation in the year 2011 with a capacity addition of over 3,000 MW. However, with the benefits of AD and GBI getting discontinued in the current fiscal, the wind sector witnessed a slump in new capacity addition to the tune of around 40 per cent.

During the Budget 2013-14 the Finance Minister brought about relief for the wind industry by reinstating the GBI with a provision of providing Rs 800 crore to the MNRE for the wind energy sector.

The C-WET has undertaken an extensive wind resource survey programme to identify the potential sites for wind power projects. A total 701 wind monitoring stations have so far been established in the country, and the data collected is available with C-WET, which is used by various stake holders in wind sector.