Budget 2019 Expectations of Energy Sector

Budget 2019 is nearing while the expectations from the Modi-government’s last budget before the General Elections 2019 are soaring high in every sector, be it MSME, agriculture, infra, or Energy.

Budget 2019 is nearing while the expectations from the Modi-government’s last budget before the General Elections 2019 are soaring high in every sector, be it MSME, agriculture, infra, or Energy. (PTI)

Budget 2019 is nearing while the expectations from the Modi-government’s last budget before the General Elections 2019 are soaring high in every sector, be it MSME, agriculture, infra, or Energy. Talking about the energy sector, the government has long delved upon bringing petroleum products under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax, however, nothing concrete has been reached as of now. The Energy sector in India is highly dependable on international crude oil prices, apart from value of the Indian Rupee. The sky-high petroleum prices in India have long been debatable for its tax structure for which the common man ultimately has to bear the brunt every time there’s a hike in petrol or diesel prices. In the past 5 years, India’s oil imports have gone up from 77% to 82% which presently costs around $125 billion to the economy. On the other hand, while our country has upped its stance on renewable solar and wind energy projects; one third of the country’s power generation capacity is marred due to lack of energy sourced from coal. Analysts in the energy sector, have long supported bringing petroleum products under Goods and Services Tax as the same will bring relief to the common man. Secondly, government regulations need to be addressed and should have minimal interference to ensure good governance and transparency in the energy sector. Unnecessary delay and over control in the energy sector is detrimental for the overall economy. Thirdly, although the BJP government has come a long way in pushing solar energy projects as well as manufacturing of electric and battery operated cars and motor vehicles, however, more innovations are required to build the input materials in the country itself to cutdown the imports and make these commodities economically sustainable in the long run. Currently, almost 85% input material and equipment like solar panels and storage batteries are imported in India. The need of the hour is to develop in-house technology and advancements via strong government support,