India will add about 3,500 MW of renewable power during the current fiscal. which would entail a capital investment of about 29,000 crore, Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah. “It is envisaged that a power generation capacity of around 3400 MW (grid-interactive) and 130 MW (off-grid / captive) from various renewable energy sources, mainly wind, solar, biomass and small hydro, will be added in the country during the current financial year 2011-12”, Abdullah added in the Parliamentary question hour.
While half of the capital investment would be towards wind energy, investments in solar power are expected to be about Rs 9,000 crore. Other renewable sources like small hydro power and bio-power would have investments of about Rs 3,000 crore and Rs 2,500 respectively. The Minister also said that the government is taking measures to facilitate participation of private sector in setting up renewable projects. These include Generation Based Incentives Scheme for wind power and solar power to attract private investment by Independent Power Producers and incentives like capital subsidy and concession on excise duty. The government has also created a contingency fund for solar power projects if state utilities fail to make payments.
