IESA Hails Budget for Energy Storage Push, Raises Concerns on Gaps

• The India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) and experts praised the Union Budget for boosting energy storage and battery manufacturing.
• Key proposals include a Rs 40,000 crore outlay for electronics component duty exemptions and explicit Basic Customs Duty (BCD) exemptions for BESS.
• The Budget also features dedicated rare earth corridors, ISM 2.0 for semiconductors, three chemical parks for battery chemicals, and 4,000 electric buses for the Northeast.
• IESA raised concerns about the absence of allocations for lithium and nickel refining and missing incentives for the recycling industry.
• Experts highlighted the record capital expenditure outlay and increased allocation for PM Surya Ghar, supporting solar investments and domestic manufacturing.

Why It Matters: The Union Budget received praise for boosting energy storage and manufacturing, but IESA noted critical gaps.