Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman proposes ₹20,000 crore for CCUS and customs duty relief in Union Budget 2026-27

Key facts

• The Union Budget 2026-27 proposes an outlay of ₹20,000 crore over the next five years to support Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) technologies.
• The CCUS funding aims to scale up projects and improve technology readiness across five industrial sectors: power, steel, cement, refineries, and chemicals.
• The basic customs duty exemption on capital goods used for manufacturing lithium-ion cells is extended to cover energy storage systems.
• The existing customs duty exemption on the import of goods required for nuclear power projects is extended until the year 2035.
• The customs duty exemption for nuclear power is expanded to cover all nuclear power plants, irrespective of their capacity.
• A basic customs duty exemption is proposed on the import of sodium antimonate for use in the manufacture of solar glass.
• The Budget proposes a basic customs duty exemption on the import of capital goods required for processing critical minerals in India.
• The entire value of biogas will be excluded while calculating the central excise duty payable on biogas-blended Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
• The Finance Minister (FM) proposed to restructure the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) to improve efficiency.
• The mineral-rich states of Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu will be supported to establish dedicated Rare Earth Corridors for mining and processing.