By K N Reddy, DH News Service, Bangalore: While states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat are making rapid strides in generating wind energy to augment their power supply, Karnataka is lagging behind in the field. Delay in getting clearances from the forest department, besides a delay in signing of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) by the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited and the Electricity Supply Companies (ESCOMS) have been cited as some of the reasons for the delay in commissioning wind energy projects in the State. Tamil Nadu, which has so far commissioned wind energy projects with a total generating capacity of 3873 MW, is fast emerging as the leader in the country. On par with some of the Western countries and also the US, Tamil Nadu proposes to set up offshore and near-shore wind turbines to augment its power supply. This is followed by Maharashtra, which has commissioned projects to harness 1756 MW. But Karnataka has so far commissioned wind projects to harness 1073 MW, as against the assessed potential of 7,957 MW. According to well-placed sources, the commissioning of wind energy projects are being delayed from five to eight years, due to the delay in getting clearances from the Forest Department. "Nearly 85 per cent of the assessed potential wind energy project sites in the State are situated in the forest areas. But we are not able to get clearances at the State level, as the officials here say they have no authority to sanction the projects. As a result, each file has to move from a range forest officer to the top officer concerned in the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment. It takes a very long time to get the clearance,' the sources commented. Reluctance The reluctance on the part of KPTCL and ESCOMS to sign the PPAs with private wind generators is said to be another cause of delay. "With the average cost of wind power being Rs 3.40 per unit, the ESCOMS feel that wind power is expensive when compared to that of hydro as well as thermal power,' the sources said.