Public-private collaboration to scale startups via venture debt, mentorship and market access for global expansion.
Public-private partnership between the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade and Stride Ventures to accelerate Indian startup growth by integrating financial instruments, strategic mentorship, and market access. The collaboration will curate dedicated programs, promote diverse fundraising mechanisms such as venture debt, identify high-growth ventures across manufacturing, consumer, B2B and cleantech sectors, and provide targeted support for startups from tier 2 and tier 3 cities through mentorship and global market connectivity.

Battery swapping and charging coexistence urged to accelerate EV adoption, requiring standards, accountability and inter-ministerial coordination.
Advocacy for coexistence of battery swapping and charging infrastructure to accelerate EV adoption, with deployment at petrol pumps and CNG stations to improve accessibility and reduce concentration. Calls for regulatory parity between fixed-battery and swap providers on subsidies, adoption of safety and operational standards by relevant standard-setting bodies, accountability mechanisms, and coordinated implementation through inter-ministerial and industry collaboration.

Memorandum of Understanding strengthens startup-public partnership to boost ecosystem, attract global investor engagement through collaboration.
A Memorandum of Understanding between DPIIT and the Startup Policy Forum creates a strategic public private collaboration to deliver joint programming-including the SPF Baithak and immersive investor engagement initiatives-and to promote collaborations among SPF members and DPIIT to showcase Indian startup innovation internationally and facilitate global stakeholder relationships.

District-level statistical estimates expanded: sample design restructured to mandate district as basic stratum and enable local estimates.
NSO will undertake multiple nationwide surveys from January 2025 with a modified sample design making the district the basic sampling stratum to enable district-level estimates. MOSPI/NSO will generate State and National estimates while State governments will produce district-level estimates. The revisions also enable monthly all India PLFS indicators, quarterly rural PLFS estimates, and quarterly plus annual ASUSE estimates. Data will be collected by trained enumerators using tablets with e SIGMA, cover the entire Union, and be held confidential for planning and policy formulation.

Unincorporated sector growth: resurgence in establishments, employment, productivity and digital adoption across services and manufacturing.
ASUSE 2023-24 records substantial expansion in the unincorporated non agricultural sector: establishments rose markedly with strongest growth in Other Services and manufacturing; GVA increased driven chiefly by Other Services. Employment expanded by over one crore workers, female proprietorship share grew, and average emoluments per hired worker rose, with manufacturing showing the highest wage gains. Productivity measures improved-GVA per worker and GVO per establishment increased-and internet usage among establishments expanded, indicating rising digital adoption across the sector.

Competition approval permits IFC, ADB and DEG to acquire stake in Fourth Partner Energy, enabling investment in renewables.
Competition approval was granted for the acquisition of certain shareholding in Fourth Partner Energy by IFC, ADB and DEG, structured as a collective investment through primary subscription and secondary purchase, whereby each investor will acquire a specified percentage of the Target's share capital. The transaction combines new capital infusion and secondary share transfers. Fourth Partner Energy provides integrated renewable energy solutions, including owning and operating solar and wind power assets and offering EPC and O&M services primarily on a captive basis.

Merger approval: Mars to acquire Kellanova through merger sub, making Kellanova an indirect wholly owned subsidiary.
CCI approved Mars' acquisition of all outstanding equity shares of Kellanova by merger: Merger Sub, a direct wholly owned subsidiary of the Acquiror, will merge into Kellanova, which will become an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Mars. The Acquiror was created for the Proposed Combination, and the parties' product presence in India is limited to Mars supplying sweet confectionery and gum and Kellanova supplying breakfast cereals and potato crisps.

Repayment of government security: outstanding balance payable at par on maturity; provide bank details or tender discharged securities early.
Outstanding principal on the government security is repayable at par on maturity and stops accruing interest thereafter; if a State holiday falls on repayment day, payment will be made on the preceding working day. Payment must be made by pay order with bank particulars or by electronic credit under the Government Securities Regulations, 2007, and holders should submit bank account particulars in advance. Absent such particulars, holders may present duly discharged securities at designated paying offices twenty days before the due date to receive repayment.

Repayment of government security: maturity paid at par with no interest; holders must provide bank details or present discharged security.
Repayment of the government security is payable at par on maturity with no interest thereafter; if a State Government holiday falls on repayment day, repayment in that State will be made on the previous working day. Maturity proceeds to registered holders shall be paid by a pay order including bank account particulars or by credit to an account capable of receiving electronic funds, and holders must submit bank particulars in advance. Absent such particulars, holders may tender duly discharged securities at Public Debt Offices, Treasuries/Sub Treasuries or designated bank branches twenty days before the due date; paying offices provide procedural details.

Household consumption momentum: rural gains narrow the urban rural consumption gap and reduce measured inequality in the latest survey.
The Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES:2023-24), based on 261,953 households, provides two sets of MPCE estimates-excluding and including imputed values of items received free through social welfare programmes. Headline MPCE (excluding imputed values) rose nominally from 2022-23 with the largest proportional increases for the bottom fractiles. Non-food items account for the majority share of MPCE, with specific expenditure concentration in beverages and processed foods, conveyance, clothing and durables; urban rent is a notable non-food component. Consumption inequality declined in 2023-24, with lower Gini coefficients in both rural and urban areas.

Public-private partnership to support recognised startups with mentoring, resources, product development and international expansion pathways to scale.
Public Private Partnership established by memorandum of understanding to support DPIIT recognised startups, including D2C and manufacturing ventures, through targeted mentoring programs, provision of resources and guidance for prototype development, and facilitation of connections and insights for potential international expansion to enhance product development and global competitiveness.

Accreditation leadership: appointment of a new NABL chairperson to strengthen laboratory accreditation and quality assurance.
Dr. Sandip Shah has been appointed Chairperson of NABL, the QCI constituent board that administers laboratory accreditation programs to ensure reliable testing and calibration, promote consumer and regulatory confidence, and support industry competitiveness. He succeeds the previous chair and brings extensive experience in pathology, molecular biology, transplant immunology, and prior NABL committee and mentorship roles.

Payroll reporting shows mixed monthly changes in subscriber counts across major social security schemes for EPF, ESI and NPS.
Release announces a Payroll Reporting publication using subscriber counts under EPF, ESI and NPS to present formal sector employment statistics. The October 2024 snapshot reports that new EPF subscriptions declined month on month; ESI newly registered contributing employees declined month on month; and new contributing NPS subscribers increased month on month, with the release providing the absolute monthly subscriber figures for each scheme.

Growth in unincorporated sector signals rising establishments, employment and productivity in ASUSE 2023-24 survey results.
ASUSE 2023-24 reports substantive expansion in the unincorporated non agricultural sector for October 2023-September 2024: establishments rose by 12.84%, employment by 10.01%, and GVA by 16.52% at current prices. Productivity and wages improved-GVA per worker and GVO per establishment increased and average emoluments per hired worker rose-while Other Services led sectoral growth. The survey, covering rural and urban India for manufacturing, trade and other services, used a multi stage stratified sample and CAPI to collect data from 498,024 establishments.

Rooftop solar policy supports solar installation at NCB, advancing decarbonization and energy savings and carbon footprint assessment via startup collaboration.
NCB inaugurated an advanced calibration laboratory providing force, mass, volume and pressure calibration services to support quality assurance for the cement and construction industry, PSUs and government laboratories, and installed a rooftop solar system under DPIIT aligned with the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana to reduce CO2 emissions, assess campus carbon footprint with an incubated startup, and advance Net Zero aims while pursuing a proposed Centre of Excellence for Building Materials.

Institutionalisation of Statistical Advisers to enforce data quality standards and enable legal data sharing frameworks for decision making.
MoSPI is institutionalising Statistical Advisers to define roles, enforce data quality standards and metadata reporting, address administrative data gaps via unique identifiers and API integration, and implement the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008 to improve data collection and sharing, while advancing readiness for AI/ML/Big Data and expanding the e-Sankhyiki portal and dataset registries.

Merger approval: Acquisition of stake in rival cement maker cleared, including promoter share purchase and open offer.
Combination approval was granted for UltraTech Cement Limited's acquisition of a significant equity stake in The India Cements Limited through a promoter-block purchase and an associated open offer; both parties operate in the manufacture and sale of grey cement and ready-mix concrete and a detailed order will follow.

Integration of industry with government digital platforms to modernize logistics, driving sustainability, AI deployment and skills-led innovation.
Call for integration of industry stakeholders onto Government digital platforms to modernize the logistics sector, prioritizing sustainability and technology adoption; use AI and data analytics to prevent time and cost overruns; and scale workforce training through Government-private sector-academia collaboration. The ULIP Logistics Hackathon 2.0 scaled nationwide to solicit data-driven and tech-driven prototypes across categories including operations optimization, unified documentation, digital transformation and sustainable logistics, producing prototypes addressing accident mapping, decarbonization, risk management, route optimization and real-time driver/vehicle monitoring.

Collection of Statistics Act focuses meeting on strengthening statistical coordination, metadata reporting and readiness for emerging technologies.
The meeting consolidates roles of Statistical Advisers to institutionalize coordination between MoSPI and Central Ministries, and will address operational and regulatory matters including AI Curation Units, institutional readiness for emerging technologies, application of the Collection of Statistics Act, metadata reporting, data quality review, infrastructure project monitoring, coordination on global indices, and effective use of surveys.

Integrated multimodal infrastructure review ensures projects align with connectivity and synchronized implementation objectives.
The Network Planning Group evaluated five transport projects for conformity with PM GatiShakti NMP principles-integrated multimodal infrastructure, last mile connectivity, intermodal connectivity, and synchronized implementation-covering two railway capacity augmentation lines and three highway upgrades/Greenfield highways. The projects aim to expedite bulk commodity movements, improve passenger and freight throughput, integrate airports and rail stations, reduce travel times, and strengthen regional trade and economic connectivity through coordinated multimodal implementation.