A recent study by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), published in Nature Scientific Reports, has revealed that wind farms in India's Thar Desert exhibit the highest bird mortality rates globally. This finding emerges as India aggressively expands its wind energy capacity to meet surging demands and ambitious climate goals, having added approximately 3.5 GW in the first half of 2025, an 82% year-on-year growth, bringing total installed capacity to 51.3 GW.

The WII study, conducted across a 3,000 sq. km desert landscape in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, home to around 900 wind turbines and 272 bird species, including the critically endangered great Indian bustard, estimated an annual bird mortality of 4,464 birds per 1,000 sq. km. This figure, corrected for detection issues and scavenging, starkly contrasts with a 2019 study's estimate of 0.47 bird deaths per turbine per year in Kutch and Davangere, with the Thar Desert reporting 1.24 bird deaths per turbine per month. Yadvendradev Jhala, a co-author of the WII study, noted the robustness of their data, which included controls for comparison. Ramesh Kumar Selvaraj, author of the 2019 paper, acknowledged the high estimate, attributing variations to geography, season, and other factors.

The Thar Desert's location within the Central Asian Flyway, a major migratory route, significantly contributes to the high mortality. The study also included bird collisions with power lines, a factor often overlooked. Raptors were identified as the most affected group, a global trend, due to their flight altitude and soaring behavior, making them vulnerable to rotating turbines. As Selvaraj explained, raptors are long-lived species with low reproductive rates, making any additional mortality impactful at a population level.

Mitigation strategies, such as painting turbine blades or temporary shutdowns, have been proposed by organizations like Birdlife International. However, experts like Selvaraj emphasize that careful site selection is the most crucial step. The Avian Sensitivity Tool for Energy Planning (AVISTEP), an open-source platform developed by Birdlife International, helps developers identify and avoid high-sensitivity avian areas. Despite this, onshore wind energy projects in India are not currently mandated to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before installation, a significant regulatory gap.

Recognizing land procurement complexities for onshore projects, India is increasingly looking towards offshore wind, aiming for 30 GW by 2030. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy recently launched bids for 4 GW of offshore capacity in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. Disha Agarwal, Senior Programme Lead at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), highlighted offshore wind's potential to enhance grid stability, particularly during peak load hours. However, the environmental consequences of offshore wind farms remain under-researched. Gopal K. Sarangi, head of Policy and Management Studies at TERI School of Advanced Studies, stressed the need for detailed marine spatial planning and EIAs for offshore projects, citing potential disturbances to marine biodiversity, noise pollution, and water contamination. While India's National Offshore Wind Energy Policy mandates EIAs for offshore developments, concerns persist regarding the thoroughness of initial assessments, as highlighted by Selvaraj regarding the proposed Gulf of Khambhat project's assessment of avian species.