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THE CONSTITUTION, MADE UNDERSTANDABLE

Article 287
Exemption from taxes on electricity

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Source edition: as on 1 May 2026. Omitted and struck-down reference entries remain labelled. Open the authoritative PDF ↗

Article 287 / Part XII

Exemption from taxes on electricity

included in edition
Plain languageOfficial textPurpose & sources
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THE PLAIN-LANGUAGE GUIDE

What does this mean?

This protects specified electricity consumed by the Union or for railway operations against State taxation, subject to parliamentary law and the stated details. It is not a universal exemption for every electricity consumer.

Taxes, government funds, financial sharing, property, borrowing, contracts and legal proceedings.

PURPOSE & CONTEXT

Why is this provision here?

Public finance needs rules identifying lawful revenues, financial responsibility and government-to-government arrangements. This provision sets the particular allocation, safeguard or procedure described above.

Historical evidence

This Article number belongs to the original constitutional framework, but its present wording may include later amendments or substitutions. A provision-specific original Assembly debate has not been verified here. The explanation of function above is editorial inference from the text, not an attributed single motive of the framers. The original draft-making archive is a research resource, not proof of a particular historical reason.

The explanation of purpose is an editorial reading of the provision. A drafting motive is attributed only where a linked historical source supports it.

Limits, exceptions & reading carefully

Educational summary of the linked source text. Exceptions, provisos, implementing laws and applicable judgments must be read before applying it to a real case.

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Read the official constitutional text
287. Exemption from taxes on electricity.—Save in so far as Parliament may by law otherwise provide, no law of a State shall impose, or authorise the imposition of, a tax on the consumption or sale of electricity sale or purchase of goods takes place (whether produced by a Government or other persons) which is— (a) consumed by the Government of India, or sold to the Government of India for consumption by that Government; or (b) consumed in the construction, maintenance or operation of any railway by the Government of India or a railway company operating that railway, or sold to that Government or any such railway company for consumption in the construction, maintenance or operation of any railway, and any such law imposing, or authorising the imposition of, a tax on the sale of electricity shall secure that the price of electricity sold to the Government of India for consumption by that Government, or to any such railway company as aforesaid for consumption in the construction, maintenance or operation of any railway, shall be less by the amount of the tax than the price charged to other consumers of a substantial quantity of electricity.
Source-page notes · may concern neighbouring Articles

1. Subs. by the Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016, s. 13, (i)(A) for "the sale or purchase of goods where such sale or purchase takes place" (w.e.f. 16-9-2016). 2. Subs. by s. 13 (i)(B), ibid., for "goods" (w.e.f. 16-9-2016). 3. Explanation to cl. (1) omitted by the Constitution (Sixth Amendment) Act, 1956, s. 4 (w.e.f. 11-9-1956). 4. Subs. by s.4, ibid., for cls. (2) and (3) (w.e.f. 11-9-1956). 5. Subs. by the Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016, s. 13(ii), for 6. Cl. (3) omitted by s. 13 (iii), ibid. (w.e.f. 16-9-2016).

Extracted from the Legislative Department’s May 2026 edition. Page footnotes may refer to neighbouring provisions; check their markers in the PDF. Inclusion in this edition does not by itself establish commencement or judicial effect.