Startup ecosystem support mobilizes national and international stakeholders for innovation week to boost market access and funding opportunities.
Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade will host a week-long Innovation Week to promote market access, catalyse funding mobilisation, and showcase innovations. The event will bring together Startups, incubators, accelerators, investors, corporates and government enablers for themed activities including exhibition, pitching, mentoring, corporate connect programmes and technology demonstrations. Partner agencies will provide incubation and mentoring support, while a regulatory roundtable chaired by the Minister will address regulatory issues affecting the Startup ecosystem.

Indian Footwear Sizing system launched to replace foreign-derived standards and set specifications for domestic anthropometric needs.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade has commenced development of a Indian Footwear Sizing system with the Central Leather Research Institute to replace sizing based on European standards by conducting an anthropometric survey, biomechanical and gait studies, materials identification, lasts fabrication, design pattern development and wear trials to generate a specification defining size ranges and lasts construction rules for diverse Indian demographic groups.

Regional economic development promotes Northeast artisanal market access through a flagship store showcasing handicrafts and textile capacities.
The launch of an exclusive flagship store aims to provide market access for Mulberry silk, shawls, bamboo products, handicrafts and other regional goods, offering a platform for local artisans and more than 43,000 weavers to showcase and commercialise their products and support the state's cottage industry.

Rubber production hub policy: large-scale plantation expansion backed by industry funding and state investment incentives.
Central policy initiatives and private sector commitments aim to position the North-Eastern Region as a strategic hub for rubber production by enabling large-scale plantation expansion, coordinated financing, and planting-material procurement. Major tyre manufacturers committed funding through a memorandum with the Rubber Board and transferred initial funds to support planting inputs, while state-level incentives and infrastructure improvements are presented as the operational framework to attract investment and develop complementary bamboo and agro-industrial activities.

Industry growth target: boost plastics manufacturing, quality testing and assured MSME raw material supply to expand employment.
A policy initiative targets substantial expansion of plastics sector turnover and employment within five years by promoting domestic manufacture of world class plastic machinery, reducing import dependence, and improving product quality; BIS testing laboratories will be established where needed. It also commits to assured raw material supply for MSMEs and stakeholder-driven capacity creation to support employment growth and sustainable sectoral development under a self reliance framework.

Infrastructure investment priority: increased capital outlay, asset monetization and an integrated master plan to boost multimodal connectivity.
Union Budget 2021-22 increases capital outlay and directs front loading of capital expenditure, complements this with the National Monetization Pipeline to mobilise private capital for augmenting Greenfield infrastructure, and endorses the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan to integrate multimodal connectivity for economic zones. Funding for NMP projects will be sought by respective line Ministries/Departments under their existing schemes, with no separate central financial implication, alongside continued implementation and expansion of the National Infrastructure Pipeline covering a broad set of infrastructure sub sectors.

Enterprise Value bidding used for Air India disinvestment, allocating debt and equity considerations and selecting highest EV bidder.
The strategic disinvestment used an Enterprise Value (EV) bidding approach requiring a combined debt-and-equity quote with a prescribed split, structured as a sale of the company as a going concern. Specified non-core assets are excluded and transferred to a government asset holding vehicle. A reserve price was fixed based on adviser valuations, sealed competitive bids were invited, and the SPA-issued to qualified bidders before bidding-requires satisfaction of agreed Conditions Precedent by the parties before closing. Employee protection measures and adviser appointments form part of the transaction framework.

Sukanya Samriddhi Account uptake: regional disparities and dominant public bank distribution revealed in enrolment data.
SSA account openings from April 2018 to October 2021 totaled 1,42,73,910, with highest counts in Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, and lowest counts in Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Ladakh, Mizoram and Sikkim. Reported regional variation is attributed to population size and parental ability or willingness to save. Banking channel data show 96.24% of recorded SSA accounts in public banks and 3.76% in private banks; Post Office accounts were excluded from the bank-distribution calculation.

Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement advances, aiming to expand market access and boost trade, investment and employment opportunities.
Negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and UAE entered a third round in New Delhi with government-led multi stakeholder consultations involving aluminium, copper, chemicals and petrochemicals industries; consultations sought industry inputs to balance expanded market access, sectoral safeguards and domestic sensitivities while advancing deeper bilateral economic integration, investment, and employment opportunities.

Trade and commercial ties strengthened as ministerial talks pursued market access convergence and restoration of core bilateral trading links.
Consolidation of trading relationship emphasizes restoration of the United States as India's principal merchandise trading partner and identifies trade and commercial ties as a core component of the bilateral strategic partnership, noting ministerial engagement through the 12th Trade Policy Forum and Commercial Dialogue where convergence on market access and outstanding trade issues was reached to pursue early mutual resolution.

Integrated infrastructure planning to reduce coal logistics costs through multimodal connectivity and freight digitalization for enhanced evacuation.
PM GatiShakti-aligned integrated infrastructure planning aims to reduce logistics costs and augment coal evacuation by expanding multimodal connectivity, strengthening rail dispatch capacity through fourteen railway projects, promoting private freight terminals via conversion-fee reduction, and deploying digital tools (Freight Operations Information System with business-data integration and Port Community System) alongside shared road-network data to guide first- and last-mile capacity enhancements.

Production Linked Incentive scheme expands manufacturing support across multiple sectors, reporting investment and implementation milestones.
Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme expansion provides a central fiscal outlay to accelerate manufacturing capacity, promote exports and self reliance by incentivising production across thirteen specified sectors plus an approved drones sector; each sector is implemented by the respective Ministry/Department. The release lists implementation milestones and reported investments post 1 April 2021 for several sectors, notes stages of bidding, application and guideline finalisation for others, and records that there is no plan to relax the white goods PLI scheme.

e commerce market growth reported; government confirms no comprehensive data maintained on sector revenue or employment.
e commerce market growth reported with an estimated revenue for the fiscal year, but no centralised figures are maintained for total e commerce revenue or employment; this lack of consolidated data was confirmed by the Minister of State in a written parliamentary reply.

Reduced patent fees for educational institutions under amended Patents Rules expand eligibility and fee concessions for applicants.
Amendments to the Patents Rules create a concessional fee category by defining educational institutions and revising the First Schedule so such institutions are eligible for substantially reduced patent fees. The Startups Intellectual Property Protection (SIPP Scheme) remains operational and expanded to include applications via Technology and Innovation Support Centres, using registered facilitators whose professional fees are reimbursed by the Office, as part of broader IPR modernization measures.

Eligibility for PMMY loans emphasises business plan based credit access for non farm entrepreneurs, with majority borrowers being women.
The release reports that approximately sixty eight percent of loans under the national microcredit scheme have been extended to women borrowers and that State/UT wise beneficiary details are provided in an annexure. It reiterates that any otherwise eligible individual with a business plan for non farm income generating activities in manufacturing, trading, services or agriculture allied sectors may avail credit under the Scheme, subject to the Scheme's upper credit limit per borrower, with member lending institutions administering disbursements.

Atal Pension Yojana eligibility defined for adults with savings accounts; state enrolment and gender disaggregation reported.
The Atal Pension Yojana is a national social security pension scheme operational since 2015 and administered by the pension regulator. Eligibility covers citizens aged 18-40 with a savings bank or post office account. There is no mechanism for transferring funds to states. Administrative data reported includes State wise enrolments and disaggregated counts for women and transgender subscribers for 2019-20 to 2021-22 (up to 31 October 2021), while enrolment does not capture SC/ST status.

Stand Up India funding: loans originate with lending institutions; government provided corpus to guarantee lending and disclosed beneficiary data.
Loans under the Stand Up India Scheme are originated and extended by lending institutions under their board approved lending policies and extant guidelines; the Government has provided funds to constitute the Credit Guarantee Fund for Stand Up India (CGFSI) to guarantee such lending, and state wise beneficiary data by SC/ST and women has been compiled and disclosed in an annexure.

Interest entitlement for PMJDY accounts: beneficiaries receive bank approved interest rates; no separate government interest scheme planned.
The Government reported growth in PMJDY account numbers and aggregate deposits and stated it will not introduce a separate interest benefit scheme; interest on PMJDY deposits continues to be governed by banks' board approved savings account policies.

Industrial corridor development to create greenfield smart industrial cities with multimodal connectivity and investment-ready infrastructure.
The Industrial Corridor Programme seeks to create integrated greenfield smart industrial cities with ICT-enabled utilities and trunk infrastructure to attract manufacturing investment. The BMIC Dharwad node is planned as a major regional industrial agglomeration leveraging road and rail freight corridors, adjacent industrial areas and institutional ecosystems. Project implementation is a joint public-sector effort with consultants appointed for master planning and preliminary engineering, and the national multimodal integration framework will be used to identify and address connectivity and infrastructure gaps to integrate economic zones.

NEIDS registration expands: new industrial units cleared under the Scheme, state processing delegated to expedite incentives.
Registration of 105 industrial units was approved by the 9th Empowered Committee under the North East Industrial Development Scheme, 2017, raising total registrations to 391 units; all applications recommended by State Governments up to 31 October 2021 were considered. The Scheme covers manufacturing and services, employs an online portal for submission and claims with stage-wise intimation, and delegates claim-processing and approval powers to State Governments to expedite incentive release.