Has India’s Wind Energy Capacity Reached 51.67 GW? Gujarat, TN & Karnataka Take the Lead

New Delhi, July 30 (NationPress) The total wind energy capacity installed in India has reached 51.67 GW as of June 30 this year, as stated by Minister of New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi during a session in Parliament.

The growth in wind energy capacity across the nation has been consistent over the past three financial years, with 2,275.55 MW added in 2023-24, 3,253.39 MW in 2024-25, and 1,637.02 MW of new capacity established in the April-June quarter of 2025-26 to date, according to data shared by the minister in a written response to the Lok Sabha.

The leading states contributing the most to wind power generation capacity are Gujarat with 13,816.68 MW, followed by Tamil Nadu with 11,830.36 MW, and Karnataka, which ranks third with an installed capacity of 7,714.74 MW.

The minister highlighted that the goal of achieving 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based power generation by 2030 includes 340 GW from ground-mounted solar and wind energy, which consists of 110 GW linked to the Intra-State Transmission System (In-STS) and 230 GW to the Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS).

Additionally, the government has launched the ‘National Repowering & Life Extension Policy for Wind Power Projects’ on December 7, 2023, to establish a supportive framework for the repowering of aging wind turbines.

The minister also mentioned that the government is committed to advancing offshore wind energy projects in India, which includes the introduction of the ‘Offshore Wind Energy Policy’ in October 2015 to facilitate the development of offshore wind energy.

Moreover, potential offshore wind areas off the coasts of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have been identified through meso-scale studies and the installation of a LiDAR system by the National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) off the coast of Gujarat in November 2017. This initiative involved collecting two years of wind data. The NIWE has also performed geophysical/geotechnical evaluations, along with rapid EIA studies and oceanographic investigations for a site with a potential capacity of 1 GW off Gujarat’s coast.

A geotechnical assessment at three borehole sites was conducted off Tamil Nadu's coast, and four LiDAR units were set up for wind resource measurement. The geophysical evaluation for a 500 MW site off the TN coast has been finalized.

The Central Transmission Utility (CTU) has planned for an initial 10 GW offshore transmission capacity, with 5 GW each allocated for the Gujarat and Tamil Nadu regions.

Furthermore, the government, via the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), has issued the first tender for ‘Leasing out Seabed for the development of 4 GW of Offshore Wind Power Projects’ under various agreements.

Finally, the Union Cabinet sanctioned the 'Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme for offshore wind energy projects' on June 19, 2024, with a total budget of Rs 7,453 crore. This includes Rs 6,853 crore for the setup and commissioning of 1 GW of offshore wind projects (500 MW each off the Gujarat and Tamil Nadu coasts) and Rs 600 crore for upgrading two ports to fulfill logistical needs for offshore wind projects.