Winds of change in steel city

CHANDIGARH: Infamous for leaving carbon footprints that make Punjab's steel city one of the most polluted places in the country, a few industries in Mandi Gobindgarh are now doing their bit for the environment by investing in wind energy. While Bhawani Industries, Jindal Fine Industries and Indian Securities Ltd have kickstarted the process, many others are waiting to follow suit.
Pumping in Rs 7 crore to set up two windmills of 0.6 MW, each, with one already operational in Rajasthan since March 2010, Jaiprakash Goyal, MD of Bhawani Industries, a closely-held Rs 370-crore public limited manufacturer of iron and steel products, said, "The company has already finalized one windmill in Madhya Pradesh and two more are in the negotiation stage. Though we have 80% depreciation benefit from the government for making investments in wind energy, saving the environment is also our concern.
Since we are a polluting industry, we have also imported new technology to avoid pollution from boilers in Mandi Gobindgarh."
The Centre allows accelerated depreciation up to 80% of project cost in the first year and under Section 80 IA of Income Tax Act, a tax holiday for 10 years. Consequently, only minimum alternate tax (MAT) is payable for 15 of 20 years of the wind energy generator (WEG). Therefore, investing in wind power projects is very attractive, with assured returns in the long run.