India adds 5,400 mw wind power capacity against target of 4,000 mw

States leading in it were Andhra Pradesh (2,190 MW), Gujarat (1,275 MW) and Karnataka (882 MW)

India added over 5,400 MW of wind energy capacity in 2016-17, beating its own target of 4,000 MW.

"Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has set another record in the wind power capacity addition by adding over 5,400 MW in 2016-17 against the target of 4,000 MW," the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

According to the statement, this surpassed the previous higher capacity addition of 3,423 MW achieved in 2015-16.

The leading states in wind power capacity addition during 2016-17 were Andhra Pradesh (2,190 MW), Gujarat (1,275 MW) and Karnataka (882 MW).

Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana and Kerala reported 357 MW, 288 MW, 262 MW, 118 MW, 23 MW and 8 MW wind power capacity addition respectively during 2016-17. These figures are tentative, the statement added.

During 2016-17, MNRE took various policy initiatives in the wind energy sector, including an introduction of bidding, re-powering policy, draft wind-solar hybrid policy and new guidelines for the development of wind power projects.