India's private Lanco Group said it has planned to set up a wind turbine unit to foray into wind energy.

The power and infrastructure major is planning to set up a wind turbine manufacturing unit in southern Puducherry. It is also planning to establish wind farms in India, the United States and Europe.

"The technology aspects would be worked out in technical collaboration from German companies. The group is targeting a commercial launch of wind energy by September 2009. Our target is to establish a total of 1,000 MW installed capacity," L. Madhusudhana Rao, chairman of Lanco Group said.

He said small windmills, with installed capacity of 2 MW, and wind farms across different locations, especially in Europe and the United States, are being explored.

The group is also exploring options in solar and nuclear energy fields, he said, adding the company has a presence in the hydropower sector, in which it is implementing five projects with a capacity of 742 MW. Two of them have been registered as Clean Development Mechanism projects with the Geneva-based United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.