The Tamil Nadu Electricity Consumers’ Association (TECA) welcomed the Union Budget 2026 presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2026, particularly appreciating the significant proposals announced for the development of India’s power and energy sectors, said Santhosh, President of the Association.
He said the Finance Minister has outlined several important initiatives aimed at strengthening clean energy manufacturing, infrastructure development and financing mechanisms in the sector.
Key announcements include:
The extension of exemption from basic customs duty on capital goods used for manufacturing lithium-ion cells for batteries and battery energy storage systems, which is expected to encourage domestic manufacturing and grid-scale storage deployment.
The exemption of customs duty from 7.5% to nil on the import of sodium antimonate used in the manufacture of solar glass was also welcomed, as it will support the solar manufacturing ecosystem.
The Budget has also exempted customs duty on imports of goods required for nuclear power projects until 2035 and extended the benefit to all nuclear plants irrespective of capacity, which will facilitate long-term nuclear capacity expansion.
Another key proposal is the restructuring of the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) as a first step towards achieving scale and improving operational efficiency in public sector NBFCs serving the power sector.
The announcement of a ₹20,000 crore outlay over the next five years for scaling up Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) technologies, in line with the roadmap launched in December 2025, was also highlighted. These initiatives will focus on improving readiness levels across five major industrial sectors — power, steel, cement, refineries and chemicals.
TECA said these measures are progressive steps towards strengthening India’s energy security, promoting clean energy adoption, improving industrial competitiveness and facilitating sustainable growth of the power sector.
The Association expressed hope for the timely implementation of these proposals to ensure maximum benefit to electricity consumers and industries across Tamil Nadu.
