The Union Budget 2026-27 has sent a clear message: industrial expansion and fossil-fuel-linked “solutions” are the priority, while genuine environmental protection remains an afterthought. In a move that favours major polluters, the government has introduced significant tax exemptions for the energy sector, specifically targeting Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies. While framed as a “green” initiative, critics argue that CCS is often used as a smokescreen to extend the lives of coal and gas plants rather than to transition to truly renewable energy.
Despite the escalating climate crisis, the budget for the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change remains stagnant or diminished in real terms, failing to address the urgent need for biodiversity conservation and climate adaptation. By prioritising fiscal incentives for the energy industry over protecting our natural ecosystems, the government is doubling down on a growth model that ignores ecological limits. We are subsidising the very industries driving us toward a tipping point, while the frontline communities and forests that act as our natural defence are left underfunded and vulnerable.
