MSME Push to Infra Growth: Women Leaders React to Budget 2026

By: WE staff

Megha Arora, Partner, CMS INDUSLAW on Energy Sector

“The Budget gives a strong thrust to the Indian infrastructure sector, by increasing the outlay to ₹12.2 lakh crore, up from ₹11.2 lakh crore in 2025–26. Proposals for seven high-speed rail corridors positioned as inter-city “growth connectors”, dedicated rare-earth corridors across mineral-rich states along with a scheme for promotion of domestic manufacturing of construction and infrastructure equipment, give a strong fillip to the infrastructure sector.

Long-term energy security and stability feature prominently in the Budget, with ₹20,000 crore allocated over five years for carbon capture, utilisation and storage technologies across power, steel, cement, refineries and chemicals. This was a long-awaited announcement and is expected to reduce the carbon footprint of the hard to abate sectors. Targeted custom duty exemptions for battery energy storage systems; sodium antimonate for manufacturing solar glass; import of monazite; goods required for nuclear power projects (until 2035); and on capital goods required for processing critical minerals in India, further boosts energy security. In addition, the entire value of biogas is proposed to be excluded while computing central excise duty on biogas-blended CNG.

To improve efficiency of public sector NBFCs in the energy sector and to achieve scale, there is a proposal to restructure Power Finance Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation.

Overall, Budget 2026–27 presents a forward-looking approach for the energy and infrastructure sector, in line with India’s Viksit Bharat vision and ‘future ready’ development goals.”