It has glow plugs (the radiator you see under the car is a cooler, not a heater). They play a role in starting the engine easily at temperatures below 5° Celsius. If the engine is ok, it starts without glow plugs even below this temperature, but more difficult.
Be careful with one aspect: the glow plug indicator light has other roles besides signaling the operation of the glow plugs.
When you turn on the ignition, it must light up briefly even if the coolant temperature is high enough so that it is not necessary to use the spark plugs. If it does not light up briefly, it means that the ECU is not getting power (if you have a tester, you will notice that it cannot connect to the ECU) and implicitly the fuel pump will not work either. However, from my knowledge, the 1.4TDI does not have a fuel pump in the tank, so you do not hear much.
But even if the glow plug indicator light does not light up, the starter should turn over, it has nothing to do with the ECU.