Wind Of Change: India Notifies Rules For Lease Of Offshore Projects

Last month, the Ministry of External Affairs notified the Offshore Wind Energy Lease Rules, 2023 ("Rules") thrusting India forward in its pursuit of developing offshore wind projects. As a result, India's vast coastlines, once simply a scenic escape, will now undergo transformation to facilitate the development of offshore wind energy projects and thereby contributing significantly to our clean energy efforts.

The momentum for offshore wind energy projects had earlier gained push with the release of the National Offsho­re Wind Policy on October 6, 2015 ("Offshore Wind Policy") and the revised Strategy for Establishment of Offshore Wind Energy Projects on September 23, 2023 ("Strategy") by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy ("MNRE"), amongst many other initiatives by the nodal bodies. Further, in September 2023, MNRE also issued a public notice to hold the first-ever tender to allocate seabed sites along the coast of Tamil Nadu for developing offshore wind