Env Ministry relaxes lease rent on wind power projects, aims to provide clean energy at cheaper rate

In a bid to boost investments in wind power projects and provide clean energy at cheaper rates, the Environment Ministry on Thursday decided to relax the lease rent of Rs 30,000 per mega watt charged mandatorily from wind power companies.

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar took the decision in a review meeting at the ministry headquarters, saying this move will encourage investment and help provide wind power at a cheaper rate.

"The government envisages to meet maximum energy requirement by tapping renewal energy resources and, to achieve the target of clean energy in a time-bound manner, various policies and regulations are being constantly updated. The government is committed to provide clean and green energy at a cheaper rate," the minister said.

Currently, to establish wind power project over forest land the existing procedure requires payment of mandatory charges for compensatory afforestation and Net Present Value (NPV).

In addition to mandatory charges, the wind power companies had to pay additional lease rent of Rs 30,000 per mega watt (MW), a ministry official said.

This additional cost is not mandatory for other renewal energy projects such as solar power and hydel electric projects.

"Additional cost for generation of clean energy through wind power escalates the per unit cost of power at consumer level," the official said.

The ministry said that promotions of such projects also strengthen the government's commitments towards international agreements, and one of the national commitment pledged in Paris in 2015 was to have 40 per cent of the power from renewable resources by 2030.

"It is noteworthy that currently India has over-achieved the target and is well on track to ensure that more than 50 per cent of our installed capacity will come from renewable by 2030," it said in a statement.