The Indian government has zoned 2,000 hectares for facilities to develop renewable energy technologies for use across the country.

The renewable energy zone is located in Nagpur, a large city in the central Indian state of Maharastra. It will be developed by the Maharastra Industrial Development Corporation and the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency.

According to the Indian government, a European firm has contributed approximately $4.7 billion to the economic development zone. The unnamed firm plans to build a facility for the production of 20,000 tons of polysilicon annually. Expected among other incentives for the renewable energy development zone are tax benefits for companies developing renewable energy technologies.

The European Union recently created an innovation center meant to encourage the growth of the cleantech industry in India, and the local government has committed to improving alternative energy sources, including wind and solar power. Indian firms, such as Suzlon Energy, have already seen some success at supplying equipment for wind power. A number of international companies, such as Logica, have established a presence in India in order to advance work on particular cleantech projects. Depending on how extensive the Indian government's  tax benefit offerings become, it's not unreasonable to expect more to do the same.

Photo by Flickr user FWBO