In her Union Budget 2026 speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman outlined measures to support exports, energy transition, strategic sectors, and cleaner fuels.

“To allow duty-free input of specified inputs, which is currently available for exports of leather or synthetic footwear, we will also explore some show uppers as well. I propose to extend the time period for export of the final product from the existing six months to one year for exporters of leather, or textile garments, leather, or synthetic footwear, and other leather products.

Energy transition and security: I propose to extend the basic customs duty exemption, given to capital goods used for manufacturing lithium-ion cells for batteries, to those used for manufacturing lithium-ion cells for battery energy storage systems also. I propose to exempt basic customs duty on import of sodium antimonate for use in manufacture of solar glass.

Nuclear power: I propose to extend the existing basic customs duty exemption on imports of goods required for nuclear power projects till the year 2035, and expand it for all nuclear plants irrespective of their capacity.

Critical minerals: It is proposed to provide basic customs duty exemption to the import of capital goods required for the processing of critical minerals in India.

Biogas-blended CNG: I propose to exclude the entire value of biogas while calculating the central excise duty payable on biogas-blended CNG.”