Seed fund support for startups enables prototype to commercialization, with incubator selection overseen by an expert advisory committee.
The Startup India Seed Fund Scheme provides financial assistance to startups for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry and commercialization through eligible incubators. An Experts Advisory Committee evaluates and selects incubators for allocation of funds; approved incubators shortlist startups per Scheme guidelines. As of 31 December 2023, 198 incubators had been selected with aggregate approved funding, and approved incubators had selected startups with corresponding approved funding; State/UT wise, year wise annexures set out counts and amounts for 2021-2023.

Public procurement inclusion: Odisha micro and rural enterprises to be onboarded on GeM, expanding digital market access.
An MoU between the Government e Marketplace and the Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society provides for onboarding ORMAS-affiliated micro and rural enterprises onto GeM, creating dedicated storefronts and product catalogues to connect women-led, SC/ST, startup, artisan, FPO, FPC and SHG sellers with government buyers, and includes ORMAS-led handholding and marketing support to increase supplier participation through a digitised public procurement platform.

Integrated planning under PM GatiShakti ensures multimodal connectivity and mandates transition infrastructure for smoother inter modal interfaces.
The Network Planning Group evaluated five road, rail and urban transit projects against the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan to assess alignment with integrated multimodal connectivity, logistics optimization, and socio economic and environmental co benefits. The review emphasised mapping conformity with the NMP, targeted reductions in congestion and transit times, capacity and logistics efficiency gains from grade separation, and the need for transition infrastructure in metro projects to secure effective inter modal integration.

Traders' welfare: directive to hold regular interactive sessions and establish state and district level trader boards to channel suggestions.
The Board emphasised the welfare of retail traders by directing regular interactive sessions to inform traders about schemes and collect suggestions; it forwarded outreach inputs from 24 states to Line Ministries/Departments for resolution and requested State Governments to constitute State Level Boards and District Level Committees to strengthen local grievance redress and policy feedback.

Digital readiness certification enables MSMEs to demonstrate onboarding preparedness for platform-based ecommerce and wider digital inclusion.
The DigiReady Certification portal establishes a self-assessment and certification mechanism to evaluate digital readiness of MSMEs and small retailers for seller onboarding on a networked ecommerce platform by assessing essential online-operation documentation, software and technology proficiency, integration with digitised workflows, and management of orders and catalogue offerings.

Quality consciousness drives youth engagement in Quality Bharat mission, promoting sustainable, zero-defect practices and national development.
The Quality Bharat @100 Mission mobilises youth through the Quality Council of India's 'Youth for Quality Bharat Festival' to instil quality consciousness in products, services and infrastructure, linking the initiative to sustainable development and the 'Zero defect zero effect' principle. The Festival combined awareness campaigns, motivational programming, and a mission video to position youth as participants in building national quality standards and to signal government-backed capacity building for long-term culture change.

PLI scheme for white goods ties incentive eligibility to meeting threshold investment and net incremental sales within chosen gestation periods.
The PLI Scheme for White Goods incentivises manufacturing of components and sub-assemblies (not finished goods) to raise domestic value addition; beneficiaries must meet threshold investment and net incremental sales within elected gestation periods to qualify. Sixty-four applicants were approved; the Scheme is implemented via a Project Management Agency under departmental oversight, with regular reviews and scheduled disbursement for qualifying companies. The Scheme aims to develop a domestic component ecosystem, attract multinational and domestic investment, and generate employment and production across multiple locations.

Quality and sustainability as national priorities to achieve developed nation goals, promoting youth trained in zero effect zero defect.
Quality and sustainability are presented as central national priorities to guide India's trajectory toward developed nation status by 2047, with emphasis on embedding environmental respect and product/service excellence. The Minister urged graduates of the Quality Council of India's Gunvatta Gurukul to cultivate an ecosystem that embraces the Zero Effect and Zero Defect ethos. The program is a youth focused capacity building initiative equipping participants with skills and governance and public policy insights; the first convocation recognised 87 graduates and the initiative will continue with a subsequent batch.

Decriminalization of minor defaults shifts regulatory enforcement toward administrative remedies, simplifying compliance and enabling business activity.
DPIIT coordinates initiatives to enhance Ease of Doing Business by streamlining regulatory interfaces, reducing compliance burdens, and promoting digitization and decriminalization. The Business Reforms Action Plan assesses subnational reform implementation across measures such as Single Window Systems, online permissions, inspection and labour reforms, focusing on simplification of procedures, rationalization of laws, creation of online interfaces, and removal of penal consequences for minor technical defaults. The Jan Vishwas Amendment exemplifies legislative decriminalization across central statutes to shift towards administrative responses and enable business growth.

Merger control approval for private equity acquisition of shareholding in a crowdsourced logistics platform, detailed order to follow.
The Competition Commission of India approved the acquisition of certain shareholding in Shadowfax Technologies Private Limited by NewQuest Asia Fund IV (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., involving purchase of equity from Eight Roads and other shareholders by a private equity fund managed within the TPG group; Shadowfax operates a crowdsourced, tech enabled logistics platform offering hyperlocal delivery and third party logistics services to e commerce platforms in India, and a detailed CCI order will follow.

Merger control approval: acquisition of Interise Investment Managers by pension and infrastructure investors cleared by regulator.
The Competition Commission of India approved acquisition of 100% of the issued and paid-up share capital of Interise Investment Managers Limited by CPPIB India Private Holdings Inc., Allianz Infrastructure Luxembourg II S.A R.L., and Ontario Inc., who will hold the Target in a specified equity split; the Target, as investment manager of IndInfravit Trust for road infrastructure assets in India, will continue its asset management role and a detailed CCI order will follow.

Collection of Statistics Act data: manufacturing gross value added and output rebounded strongly after pandemic disruptions.
Release of ASI results for 2020-21 and 2021-22 provides establishment-level estimates of output, GVA, employment and capital used in national and state accounts, produced under the Collection of Statistics Act 2008 via a web-based survey combining census coverage for defined units and stratified sampling for others; 2020-21 shows pandemic-related input and output contractions while 2021-22 records a substantial recovery led by key manufacturing subsectors, with the release noting sample sizes, quality checks and caution on sampling-derived uncertainty.

Fake Input Tax Credit detection prompts arrests and disruption of nationwide syndicates using shell firms and KYC misuse.
The Directorate General of GST Intelligence uncovered widespread fake Input Tax Credit (ITC) fraud by networks that created and operated shell firms, misused KYC documents, and used one person companies to pass ineligible ITC. Investigations relied on e way bill analytics and IP address tracing to detect linked firms, leading to searches, seizures of electronic and documentary evidence, recorded admissions, and arrests of operators who facilitated fake firms and digital signature forgeries.

Production Linked Incentive scheme promotes industry government collaboration to boost manufacturing competitiveness and streamline implementation.
The PLI Scheme is framed to boost manufacturing competitiveness through targeted incentives and formalised industry government collaboration; implementing Ministries/Departments must hold regular consultations with beneficiaries and PMAs to resolve implementation issues, while beneficiary firms are urged to prioritise high quality production, intensify sectoral competitiveness, and work collaboratively to maximise incentive utilisation and export and employment outcomes.

Codex standards for spices expand international food safety benchmarks, enabling harmonised trade and national reference use.
The committee finalised quality standards for five spices and forwarded them to the Codex Alimentarius Commission for adoption, implemented a grouping strategy by producing a group standard for spices derived from fruits and berries, advanced the vanilla draft to the next review step, and agreed to develop standards for four additional spices while continuing multinational consultation through electronic working groups.

Startup recognition growth ensures nationwide startup presence and significant direct job creation, with targeted women entrepreneurship support.
DPIIT recognises 1,17,254 startups as of 31 December 2023, which report over 12.42 lakh direct jobs and at least one recognised startup in every State/UT with coverage across over eighty percent of districts. State/UT-wise annexures set out recognised startup counts and self-reported direct jobs for 2019-2023. Among recognised startups, 55,816 have at least one woman director. The Government implements targeted measures to promote women entrepreneurship, including reserved Fund of Funds allocation, capacity development and incubation programmes, women-focused accelerators, outreach platforms, and MSME support measures.

Mobility sector strategy: align fiscal support and infrastructure investment to accelerate electric mobility and green technology adoption.
The communication frames the mobility sector as central to national development, promoting electric mobility, infrastructure expansion and technology adoption. It positions the Bharat Mobility Global Expo as a platform uniting manufacturers, suppliers, startups and states to showcase advanced energy storage, e-mobility and green hydrogen capabilities and to catalyse buyer-seller linkages. Interim budgetary capital expenditure and prudent fiscal execution are identified as enabling conditions expected to stimulate the mobility value chain, improve financing conditions, and support investment in transport and logistics assets, while stakeholders are encouraged to align innovation and deployment with national connectivity and sustainability objectives.

Production Linked Incentive schemes: nationwide stakeholder meeting to harmonize implementation, share best practices and set future targets.
Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes coordination and implementation are being advanced through a large stakeholder meeting assembling central ministries, project management agencies and industry across all 14 PLI schemes to exchange good practices, success stories and operational lessons aimed at strengthening delivery, harmonizing implementation approaches, improving performance monitoring, and setting higher achievement benchmarks to accelerate manufacturing ecosystem development under the PLI framework.

Multimodal connectivity through PM GatiShakti enables new rail corridors to reduce logistics costs and promote modal shift.
Implementation of three Economic Railway Corridors under PM GatiShakti is proposed to enable multimodal connectivity for energy, mineral and cement movements, port access, and high-traffic density routes, improving logistics efficiency by decongesting rail routes, facilitating modal shift from road to rail and coastal shipping, and reducing carbon footprint. PM GatiShakti's National Master Plan and digital tools-GIS-based platforms, AI, ULIP, RFID, and an IoT Logistics Data Bank-are identified as the decision-support mechanisms that enable integrated planning, de-risk infrastructure investment, and encourage foreign investment.

Competition approval for subscription of convertible preference shares permits investor financing into an integrated healthcare parent company.
The Competition Commission of India approved the subscription of compulsorily convertible preference shares in API Holdings Limited by two investor entities; the transaction is a financial instrument subscription into the ultimate parent of an integrated healthcare group active in pharmaceutical distribution, medical devices, OTC products, diagnostics and tele medical services, and the subscribing parties are investment vehicles rather than operating competitors.