A wind power capacity of 565 MW has been installed in the country in the current year (upto July, 2011) with private sector investment of around INR 3,400 crore.
Giving this information in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha the minister of new and renewable energy Dr Farooq Abdullah said the Government is 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 and excise duty exemption to manufacturers.
He said a 10 years tax holiday on income generated from wind power projects is also available. The minister added that loans for installing windmills are available from Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency and other Financial Institutions while technical support including wind resource assessment is provided by the Centre for Wind Energy Technology Chennai.
Dr Farooq Abdullah said that preferential tariff is also being provided in potential states. He said the Government has also announced a Generation Based Incentive under which INR 0.50 per unit generated from wind power projects is being provided to the projects which do not avail of accelerated depreciation benefit.