The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has canceled two major offshore wind energy tenders totaling 4.5 GW due to a lack of developer interest.

The first tender, floated in February 2024 on behalf of the National Institute of Wind Energy, aimed to allocate seabed lease rights for 4 GW of offshore wind power projects on a build-own-operate basis.

The second, issued in September 2024, sought developers for 500 MW of inter-state transmission system-connected offshore wind power projects.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had announced a ₹74.53 billion (~$852.31 million) viability gap funding program for 1 GW offshore wind projects. However, industry response remained muted, as developing such projects requires specialized port infrastructure capable of handling the storage and movement of heavy, large-dimension equipment, and facilities that are not widely available in India.

At the recent Mercom India Renewables Summit 2025, Raj Prabhu, CEO and Co-Founder at Mercom Capital Group, expressed scepticism about the viability of offshore wind projects in India.

He said that offshore wind is too expensive and is unlikely to take off in India. While there may be policies and announcements, he believed it is more of a “press release type of technology” for India at the moment, not something that will become commercially practical anytime soon.

A collaborative study released by the Centre of Excellence for Offshore Wind and Renewable Energy, a joint initiative between the Danish Energy Agency and MNRE, found that the zones identified in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat fulfill basic navigation and access criteria to support the installation of wind turbines and foundations.

The study said the identified zones in Tamil Nadu have excellent wind conditions ranging from 7 m/s to slightly above 10.5 m/s at 150 m hub height. The depth to the seabed ranges from 10 m to 65 m, which is suitable for deploying fixed foundation offshore wind turbines.

The wind conditions in the identified zones in Gujarat had an average wind speed of less than 7 m/s at 150m height. The water depth ranges from 11 m to 50m and is considered suitable for the installation of fixed-foundation wind turbines.