THE MINISTER OF NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY (DR. FAROOQ ABDULLAH)
(a): No, Madam. Projects for power generation based on renewable energy sources, such
as, wind, solar and biomass are being set up in mainly private sector, with largely private
investment, backed with some fiscal and financial incentives from the Government.
(b): Significant capacity of such projects is likely to be added during the next five
years with significant capital investment in the range of about Rs.5-10crore/ MW depending
on the chosen renewable resource, project location and technology, most of which would
come from the private sector.
(c): Yes, Madam.
(d) : Electricity being a concurrent subject, it is mainly for the States to enter in to
agreements/ contracts with private developers for setting up of renewable power projects in
line with their declared policies, including those relating to allotment/ lease of project
sites. Certain States organize investment promotion meets and have established single
window clearance to attract investment in Renewable Energy. The Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy has set up an Investment Promotion Cell to serve as a single point of contact for
dissemination of available information w.r.t. potential sites, policies and incentives and
providing necessary guidance to prospective investors/ developers of renewable power projects.
(e): The Government has taken several steps to attract private investment in projects for
generation of power from various renewable energy sources. These include the following:
# Fiscal and financial incentives, such as, capital/ interest subsidy, accelerated depreciation,
nil/ concessional excise and customs duties; 10 years tax holiday on revenue generated from
the projects through sale of power
# Directives under the Electricity Act 2003 to all States for fixing a minimum percentage for
purchase of electricity from renewable energy sources taking into account local factors
# Preferential tariff for grid-interactive renewable power in most potential States following
the provisions made under the National Electricity Policy 2005 and National Tariff Policy 2006;
# Normative guidelines for fixation of preferential tariffs being issued by CERC every year.
# Generation Based Incentives Scheme for Wind Power to attract private investment by Independent
Power Producers not availing Accelerated Depreciation benefit.
# Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission launched to give a boost to deployment of solar energy
systems, solar photovoltaic as well as solar thermal.
