UPSC Mains 2022 GS Paper 1 Q7: model answer
Examine the potential of wind energy in India and explain the reasons for their limited spatial spread.
What the question wants
Examine India's wind energy potential and explain why it is concentrated in a few states.
How to structure it
Two parts: potential and limited spatial spread.
- Potential and status
- Where it is
- Why limited spread
- Way forward
How to think it through
Wind is a picky partner. It needs strong, steady wind (around 7 m/s and above), open land and a grid that can absorb the power. Only the western and southern edges of India have all three. Then mention offshore wind as the next frontier.
Model answer
The National Institute of Wind Energy estimates India's onshore wind potential at about 1,164 GW at 150 m above ground. Installed capacity crossed 50 GW in 2025, making India the fourth largest in the world.
Where it is
- About 90% of capacity lies in seven states: Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
- Muppandal (Tamil Nadu) and Jaisalmer are major parks.
Why the spread is limited
- Wind regime: strong monsoon winds through Palghat and Aralvaimozhi gaps and coastal Gujarat; weak winds in the Gangetic plain and the east.
- Seasonality: most generation is from May to September, which complicates grid planning.
- Low hub heights of old turbines waste good sites.
- Grid and evacuation: transmission lines are lacking in remote windy areas.
- Land: acquisition problems, competing uses and objections over bird habitats such as the Great Indian Bustard in Rajasthan.
- Policy: shift to auctions lowered tariffs and slowed investment; weak DISCOM finances.
Way forward
- Repowering old turbines, wind-solar hybrids, storage, and offshore wind off Gujarat and Tamil Nadu (target 30 GW by 2030).
Draw: India map with wind belts in the west and south.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
NIWE, 1,164 GW at 150 m, Muppandal, Palghat gap, hybrid policy 2018, offshore wind, repowering.
Where most answers lose marks
- Ignoring the 'limited spatial spread' part.
Related Mains PYQs
- Discuss the natural resource potentials of ‘Deccan Trap’. UPSC 2022 · GS-I
- Describing the distribution of rubber-producing countries, indicate the major environmental issues faced by them. UPSC 2022 · GS-I
- Mention the significance of straits and isthmus in international trade. UPSC 2022 · GS-I
- Despite India being one of the countries of the Gondwanaland, its mining industry contributes much less to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP)… UPSC 2021 · GS-I
Fresh examples from current affairs
Cauvery panel tells Karnataka to release 3,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu: Article 262 and the inter-State water dispute
The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee has told Karnataka to ensure 3,000 cusecs of water a day at Biligundlu for 15 days, and the Cauvery Water Management Authority has endorsed it. Tamil Nadu wanted almost five times more, including a claimed backlog. Karnataka says a weak monsoon has left its four Cauvery reservoirs 55% short and most of its taluks in drought. For you, this is a live case study of Article 262, water tribunals and how a dry year turns sharing into a crisis.
UPSC angle: Prelims: Cauvery source and tributaries, Article 262, ISWD Act 1956, CWMA. · Mains GS-II: inter-State water disputes; cooperative federalism.
25 Oct 2026
Haryana’s first private power distributor: what a parallel licence means for Gurugram and Nuh
The Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) on 19 October 2026 gave Eleven Power Pvt Ltd a 25-year parallel distribution licence for Gurugram and Nuh. It will be Haryana’s first private distributor and India’s second case of parallel licensing after Mumbai. The State government and power-sector staff oppose it and plan to appeal to the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity.
UPSC angle: Prelims: Section 14, APTEL, Concurrent List Entry 38. · Mains GS-III: discom reform, cross-subsidy, competition.
22 Oct 2026
Rubio at Jamnagar: US pitches oil and Venezuelan crude to India’s ‘refining superpower’
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Reliance’s Jamnagar refinery complex in Gujarat on 21 October 2026, a day after calling India a ‘refining superpower’. He wants India to buy more US oil and refine more Venezuelan crude. In Mumbai on 20 October, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also held an unannounced India–US–UAE meeting on energy and connectivity, with the Strait of Hormuz blocked.
UPSC angle: Prelims: Jamnagar, Hormuz, I2U2, IMEC, SPR sites. · Mains GS-II/III: energy security vs strategic autonomy; India–US–UAE.
21 Oct 2026
Pumped storage hydropower: India’s roadmap for 100 GW of ‘water batteries’ by 2035-36
A PIB backgrounder of 19 October 2026 explains how pumped storage projects (PSPs) will store solar and wind power for India’s grid. India runs 7.43 GW of pumped storage today, is building 15.87 GW more and has an assessed potential of 345.38 GW. A roadmap aims to add about 100 GW between 2025-26 and 2035-36.
UPSC angle: Prelims: PSP types, CEA, ISTS waiver, IRENA ranking. · Mains GS-III: storage and the clean energy transition.
19 Oct 2026Learn the concept
Question text as printed in the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) question paper. The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.
Want every PYQ in one place? See the Battle IAS PYQ Book.