The way this year’s central budget has boosted India’s power industry that is truly commendable. Our Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seems to have compiled the budget with a 360-degree view of the power industry. She has precisely allocated funds wherever they were needed to accelerate the growth of this rapidly transforming sector.
Focusing on the need of clean energy expansion, Nirmala Ji has increased allocations for renewable energy programmes. Addressing the growing need for household solar adoption, she has increased the allocation by 10% from the previous budget bringing it to `22,000 crore.
Removing bubbles, Sodium Antimonate improves optical clarity and yield for high-end glasses that are used for PV modules. The Finance Minister (FM) has knocked off the Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on the compound, which was 7% earlier. Allocation for PM-KUSUM (Pradhan Mantri Krishi Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyaan) too has been increased to `50 billion from `26 billion, which is almost doubled.
The proposal for dedicated Rare Earth Corridors in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala is yet another big step forward to promote mining, processing, research, and manufacturing of permanent magnets, which are essential for wind turbines, electric vehicles, aerospace systems, defence and other BLDC motors.
The budget has extended the Basic Customs Duty (BCD) exemption on capital goods used for manufacturing Lithium-Ion cells to include those specifically used for Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESSs). Full customs duty exemption has been provided on the import of waste and scrap of lithium-ion batteries to encourage domestic recycling and support a circular economy.
Also, attempts to eliminate the bottlenecks of the T&D segment is commendable, where Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) allocation has been `18,000 crore.
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