India Singapore partnership marks 60 years, focusing on trade, investment, digitalisation, sustainability and skills development.
Bilateral economic and strategic partnership between India and Singapore is advanced through a high-level business session emphasising expanded trade and investment linkages, technology and digitalisation cooperation, sustainable energy transitions, skills development, advanced manufacturing, and infrastructure financing, with senior officials and industry leaders identifying collaborative avenues in green energy, digital transformation, industrial parks, and finance.

India Qatar trade talks to advance CEPA ToR, tackle trade barriers, and boost sectoral cooperation and investment.
A ministerial India Qatar Joint Commission on Trade and Commerce will review bilateral trade, address trade barriers and non tariff issues, and advance the proposed Free Trade Agreement process by finalizing the Terms of Reference for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, while pursuing sectoral cooperation across finance, agriculture, environment, tourism, culture and healthcare.

Investment cooperation to boost FDI and sectoral partnerships, prioritising manufacturing, green transition and skilling initiatives.
Strengthening bilateral economic and strategic partnership through enhanced investment and sectoral cooperation, prioritising measures to attract and scale foreign direct investment in manufacturing, infrastructure, renewable energy, and financial services. The agenda advances public private collaboration including a Business Roundtable on FDI in manufacturing, dialogues with institutional investors to scale India focused portfolios, and operational cooperation on skilling via an India Singapore Skilling Centre for MRO professionals alongside knowledge exchange on sustainable forestry, industrial parks, worker housing, credit financing, and the green transition.

Driver community gains structured retirement coverage as NPS pilot enrolls drivers and platform commits contributions to individual accounts.
A pilot NPS enrollment was launched to extend structured retirement coverage to nearly 5,000 drivers, starting with distribution of 50 PRANs. The mobility platform will contribute to each driver's individual NPS account, utilising the pension fund manager to operationalise long-term savings and retirement planning for this informal workforce cohort.

Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement enters into force, enhancing market access and investment facilitation between the Parties.
The Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement between India and the EFTA States entered into force to enhance market access and streamline customs procedures, promote regulatory dialogue and standards cooperation, and strengthen value chain integration across goods and services. It includes predictable mobility and qualifications recognition for services, and establishes an investment facilitation mechanism to monitor investment delivery and support increased two way trade, supply chain resilience, and expanded investment opportunities.

Tax devolution of Rs.1,01,603 crore released to accelerate capital spending and welfare expenditure ahead of festive season.
Union Government released an additional tax devolution of Rs.1,01,603 crore as one advance instalment to State Governments on 1 October 2025 to enable accelerated capital spending and finance development and welfare-related expenditure; the release is supplementary to the normal monthly devolution and is accompanied by a state-wise breakup of amounts disbursed.

Inclusive pensions expand through segmented schemes, PRAN pilots for platform workers and coordinated rural outreach to boost retirement coverage.
PFRDA launched a Multiple Schemes Framework enabling pension funds to offer segmented NPS schemes for varied workforce segments, piloted PRAN distribution to platform workers to expand gig-economy coverage, signed an MoU to scale rural and agricultural pension outreach via Farmer Producer Organizations, and established a Forum for Regulatory Coordination to harmonise regulatory practices and investment standards, alongside targeted MSME outreach and financial literacy and gender-focused enrolment initiatives.

Minimum Support Prices for rabi crops increased to ensure remunerative prices and specified margins for marketing season.
The Cabinet approved increased Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for all mandated Rabi crops for Marketing Season 2026-27, specifying absolute per quintal increases and tabulated MSPs with all India weighted average cost of production and resulting margin over cost. The adjustments implement the policy of setting MSPs at not less than 1.5 times the all India weighted average cost of production, with stated expected margins for each crop and an express objective of ensuring remunerative prices and incentivising crop diversification.

Public-private partnership accelerates biotech startups under a national challenge platform through mentorship, technology access and investor connections.
A Memorandum of Understanding creates a public-private partnership between DPIIT and Thermo Fisher Scientific to accelerate India's biotech startup ecosystem through the BioVerse Challenge, which provides intensive strategic mentorship, subsidized R&D facility access and investor connections, and the BioVerse Mentors Circle, which delivers technical training across incubators; the initiative is supported by a BioVerse Alumni Network for long-term mentorship, coaching and funding access.

Migration of IEM services to NSWS mandates exclusive online filing through a unified single-window platform.
Migration of IEM services to NSWS requires exclusive electronic filing and amendments on the single-window platform. Applicants must register anew on NSWS, complete entity profiles with corporate identifiers and authorised signatories, select the IEM service under Central Approvals for Part A with project and GST-linked location details and pay online; submit Part B after commercial production with actual commencement and capacity data; and file Part A amendments through the specified amendment option with payment. NSWS provides auto-population from government databases, real-time tracking and e-signed acknowledgements.

Dearness Allowance increase approved, extending additional instalment to central employees and pensioners and impacting pay formula.
Approval of an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief increases cost of living compensation by three percentage points over the existing 55% of basic pay/pension, payable with effect from 01.07.2025, applying to serving Central Government employees and pensioners under the Pay Commission formula.

National Pension System consultation proposes three schemes including a pension credits model and an assured, inflation indexed pension.
PFRDA's consultation proposes three NPS scheme designs: Pension Scheme 1, a Non Assured Flexible Decumulation mix of Step up SWP and annuity; Pension Scheme 2, an Assured Benefit with a Target Pension indexed to CPI IW for inflation adjustment; and Pension Scheme 3, a Pension Credits model where each credit secures a fixed monthly payout. The paper is published for stakeholder feedback via a provided template to inform scheme design and implementation.

Supply chain resilience: policy prioritises self-reliance and protective trade measures to secure critical supplies and partnerships.
The policy emphasizes self-reliance to secure supply and value chains against external shocks and the weaponization of trade, advocating technology-driven partnerships based on trust, trade, talent, and tradition. It pairs this with self-confidence in equal economic engagement and self-protection to safeguard national interests. Supporting measures include GST simplification to reduce compliance burdens and stimulate consumption, promotion of regional investment and industrial corridors, and enhanced public private collaboration to strengthen international partnerships.

Artificial intelligence integration in management education urged to reshape curricula and pedagogy, emphasising ethics and industry collaboration.
The conclave gathered academic and industry leaders to promote integration of Artificial Intelligence into management curricula and pedagogy, emphasising responsible adoption, ethics and industry collaboration in line with National Education Policy 2020, and to advance internationalisation, research exchange and institutional leadership in management education.

Annual industrial survey publications released; detailed factory sector data and unit level datasets now available for dissemination.
The ASI 2023 24 publications and unit level data have been released online, including Volume I with factory counts and economic parameters (capital, employment, output, depreciation, gross value added, fuel consumption) by NIC 2008 industry codes for all India and States/UTs, and Volume II as an e publication detailing materials consumed and products/by products by National Product Classification for Manufacturing Sector; a separate Summary Results presents key tables on employment size, capital investment, gross output and net value added for national and state analysis.

Competition approval enables proposed indirect acquisition of a significant stake in an agricultural commodities company by a foreign investor.
The Competition Commission of India approved SALIC's proposed indirect acquisition of a substantial shareholding in Olam Agri Holdings Limited as a Proposed Combination. SALIC is an agri-investment company with Indian presence through LT Foods; Olam Agri is a Singapore-headquartered merchant and processor operating across the agricultural goods value chain, including wholesale sales in India and retail basmati rice sales. A detailed Commission order will follow.

Fiscal receipts and expenditure review showing receipt composition and higher devolution to states mid fiscal year.
Monthly consolidation of the Government of India's accounts up to August 2025 presents year to date receipts-primarily Tax Revenue, Non Tax Revenue and Non Debt Capital Receipts-and notes increased Devolution of Share of Taxes to states compared with the prior year. Expenditure is reported by economic class with a split between Revenue Expenditure and Capital Expenditure, and identifies key revenue components including Interest Payments and Major Subsidies, each compared to the corresponding budget estimates for FY 2025-26.

NCVET-approved skill courses launched for tea sommeliers and tea tasting to strengthen workforce and tea literacy.
NCVET-approved vocational courses in tea sommelier skills and tea tasting were launched following expert-committee recommendations and development with an NCVET-recognised awarding body. A short Essentials of Tea Sommeliers course covers tea appreciation, professional tasting techniques and blend innovation; a longer Fundamentals of Tea Tasting course addresses factory-level tasting operations, session management, blending based on sensory outcomes, and modern manufacturing practices. Both courses aim to build sensory evaluation and grading capacity to strengthen the tea value chain and market competitiveness.

International trade negotiations capacity-building strengthens officials' practical negotiation skills for bilateral and multilateral trade forums.
IIFT launched a capacity-building program organised by its Centre for International Negotiations to strengthen Department of Commerce officials' negotiation skills and provide practical tools and insights for conducting bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations, using expert-led modules and case studies on free trade agreements.

Mediation training enhances ADR skills for debt recovery tribunal officers and bank executives to promote settlements by consensus.
A 40 hour mediation programme trained Presiding Officers of Debt Recovery Tribunals and senior public sector bank executives on the concept, comparative advantages, process and stages of mediation, mediator roles, communication, and negotiation. The programme emphasised stakeholder roles - referral judges, lawyers and parties - in mediating matters handled by DRT officers under the Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy and SARFAESI frameworks, aiming to enhance ADR competency and promote settlement by mutual consensus.