GE brings back wind business in India with better subsidies

Fairfield, Conn.-based General Electric (NYSE:GE) said it’s bringing its Indian wind turbine business back to life after a four-year hiatus, according to Bloomberg today.

The reason for the renewed interest in Indian renewables?

The company says the Indian government has improved its incentives, changing a subsidy program to prefer wind energy generation as opposed to investment in turbines. The intent of the change is to ramp up the development of electricity from clean energy, and GE plans to do just that, while decreasing its dependence on the U.S. market.

The company said it is planning to build wind turbines in southern Indian, with the annual capacity to make 300 machines of 1.5 megawatts each.

GE is returning to the Indian market as its competitor Suzlon Energy has been hindered by slowing orders and cracked turbine blades discovered in 2008 (see Suzlon to spend $25M to fix wind turbines).

It’s not the first time the Indian government has improved wind incentives. In 2008, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy removed a cap it had previously imposed on wind energy projects to increase foreign investment in the sector (see India to remove cap on wind incentives).

India’s Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry came out with a report in April blaming a lack of renewable energy, among other factors, for high defects rates in Indian manufacturing. More power coming from renewables is expected to be the solution (see Indian businesses lament lack of renewable energy).

Another report released the same month from the Commonwealth Business Council and the Indian Institute of Management suggests mismanagement is preventing private investments in the Indian cleantech sector, with one of the biggest problems being the lack of basic data on where wind resources exist (see Mismanagement starves Indian cleantech of cash?).

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