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IEEE power & energy magazine 39 1540-7977/05/$20.00©2005 IEEE I INDIA IS ONE OF THE LARGEST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD, WITH A GEOGRAPHICAL area covering 3 million km2 and teeming with a population of over 1 billion. The economic growth of a nation calls for a matching rate of growth in infrastructural facilities. The growth rate of the demand for power in developing countries is generally higher than that of the gross domestic product (GDP). The elasticity ratio for the growth rate in demand of power over that of GDP is about 1.5 for India. In order to support a reasonable rate of growth of GDP, around 7% per annum, the growth rate of power supply needs to be more than 10% annually. The government of India (GOI) has emphasized infrastructure development, with top priority given to the power sector. Being a developing country, the per capita consumption of electricity in India is on the order of 582 kWh (and projected to be 1,000 kWh by the year 2012) as compared to more than 5,000 kWh in developed countries. However, it has taken rapid strides in power development despite high poverty levels. During the 1960s and 1970s, the growth rates of electricity consumption were 11.6% and 12.2%, whereas in the 1980s and 1990s, the growth rates were 6.5–7.4%. The estimated future W IN D T U R B IN E S :© 19 99 C O R B IS C O R P.