Combination approval under the Competition Act subject to divestments to preserve competition and establish independent competitors.
Approval under Section 31(7) of the Competition Act, 2002 was given for the combination of Linde and Praxair subject to divestments: Linde India's shareholding in Belloxy; Praxair's three on site East Region plants and two cylinder filling stations; and Linde's JSW 2 on site plant and two cylinder filling stations in the South. These assets must be sold to independent entity(ies) meeting Commission parameters to eliminate regional overlap and establish or strengthen independent competitors in industrial gases markets.

Bid rigging in joint ethanol procurement led to penalties and cease-and-desist action for collusive tendering.
Collusive submission of similar or identical bids by sugar mills, coordinated through ISMA and EMAI, violated Section 3(1) read with Section 3(3)(d) of the Competition Act by lessening competition and manipulating a 2013 joint ethanol procurement tender; CCI issued Cease and Desist relief and imposed penalties calculated on relevant turnover from ethanol sales-sugar mills at 7% of average relevant turnover and trade associations at 10% of average receipts.

Fiscal sustainability concerns prompt review of revenue-generation and decentralization measures ahead of commission visit to Maharashtra.
The Finance Commission will examine Maharashtra's fiscal sustainability, noting compliance with FRBM deficit limits but a persistent revenue deficit driven by rigid revenue expenditures. It identifies declining trend growth in total and own-tax revenues, a low tax-to-GSDP ratio, and the need to address debt sustainability through higher revenue generation rather than expenditure contraction. The Commission will also assess decentralization progress, the skew in transfers toward rural local bodies, capital expenditure trends, and inter-regional socio-economic disparities affecting service delivery.

WTO reform as a priority: push for a forward looking multilateral trade reform agenda to address protectionism and digital economy challenges.
WTO reform and a forward looking multilateral trade agenda are identified as primary priorities, with emphasis on countering protectionist measures and strengthening the multilateral trading system. The Ministerial will promote an inclusive trade system to integrate small and medium sized enterprises into international trade and leverage the digital economy and new technologies, addressing global value chains, the new industrial revolution and the international trade outlook through G 20 cooperation.

Economic cooperation deepened through trade, investment facilitation and sectoral partnerships linking industry, sustainability and green mobility.
The visit prioritized enhancement of economic cooperation, trade and investment facilitation, and sectoral partnerships between India and the Russian Far East. Key actions included inspection of an Indian diamond manufacturing facility to explore sourcing and value addition, invitations to Far East governors to lead business delegations to India, and promotion of investment through Invest India. Sectoral engagements covered mining, agriculture, timber, pharma, automobiles, logistics, tourism, digital transport and green mobility, while environmental cooperation addressed conservation, water cooperation and sustainable resource use.

Rail network electrification enables seamless electric traction, boosting capacity, speed and national energy security.
Approval for electrification of remaining unelectrified broad gauge routes of Indian Railways covering 108 sections and 13,675 route kilometres aims to achieve 100% electric traction, focusing on missing links and last mile connectivity to eliminate traction changes, improve operational efficiency, increase line capacity and average speeds, reduce diesel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and deliver significant annual fuel bill savings while generating direct employment during construction.

Capacity Development Scheme continuation strengthens national statistical infrastructure and launches Time Use, Service Sector, and Unincorporated Sector surveys.
Approval continues the Capacity Development Scheme for 2017-18 to 2019-20 to strengthen official statistics by augmenting infrastructure, technical and manpower resources, supporting key statistical outputs and surveys including the Periodic Labour Force Survey, and by operating two sub schemes-Economic Census and Support for Statistical Strengthening-with additional planned surveys: Time Use Survey, Annual Survey of Service Sector Enterprises and Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises.

Skill development drives a new work culture expanding self-employment, startups, and innovation through institutional and financing support.
The government promotes a new work culture focused on youth empowerment through skill development, financial access for entrepreneurs via microcredit schemes, and intensified startup recognition. Complementary education and innovation policies-including the Atal Innovation Mission and planned Atal Tinkering Labs-aim to foster school-level innovation, while simultaneous emphasis on traditional wellness practices and modern technology is framed to enhance national confidence and inclusive opportunity.

Bilateral economic cooperation to advance environment, mining and connectivity measures that deepen trade and regional engagement.
Discussions focused on expanding bilateral economic cooperation in environment and tiger conservation, water cooperation, forestry and timber, mining and geological exploration, agriculture, tourism, and sectoral partnerships, together with measures to enhance trade and investment by simplifying and improving connectivity between India and the Russian Far East and promoting state- and region-level business delegations.

Trade promotion through a national pavilion enabled B2B partnerships and market-entry collaborations for diverse Indian export sectors.
India participated as focus country at the Izmir International Trade Show with a TPCI-led delegation and a 'Source India' pavilion to facilitate B2B meetings and commercial tie-ups, including partnership arrangements with BIM and MIGROS, and to promote sectoral cooperation in goods and services such as agri products, food processing, automotive components, construction machinery, consumer electronics, textiles and medical devices.

AI governance frameworks to guide applied research, privacy standards and industry collaboration for scalable AI solutions.
Model ICTAI to conduct advanced application focused AI research in healthcare, agriculture and smart mobility, develop AI foundational frameworks, curated datasets and algorithms, and define governance, standards and policy inputs on data storage, information security, privacy and ethics to enable productization, technology transfer, skilling and replication of institutional design nationally.

Trade promotion drives global food buyers to source from India, expanding exporter market access and B2B sourcing opportunities.
TPCI is mobilising international buyer participation for Indusfood II to facilitate B2B sourcing of food and beverage products from India; IBCCI will bring a substantial Bangladeshi buyer contingent to source fruits, spices, confectionery, agri produce, dry fruits, mustard and soya oil and to connect with North Eastern Indian exporters. The exhibition is positioned to expand market access, private label and bulk procurement opportunities through large scale importer engagement and extensive Indian exhibitor participation.

Vertical fiscal devolution: commission seeks refined projections and risk-aware assumptions to guide award-period resource allocation effectively.
The Finance Commission's consultation sought to refine assumptions and variables for preparing fiscal projections for the award period, notably methods to estimate nominal GDP, the impact of inflation on real GDP growth, and key projection risks. The meeting also addressed how institutional changes and policy issues-including climate change adaptation, inter-district disparities, fund-flow imbalances between rural and urban local bodies, and the effects of Centrally Sponsored Schemes and GST-should inform vertical devolution and allocation frameworks.

Unfair pricing by hospitals: probe widened to examine sales to in patients that limit market choice and competition.
Allegations of unfair pricing by private super-specialty hospitals for products sold to locked in in patients prompted a Commission inquiry and referral to the Director General. The Commission found prima facie substantial profit margins on such supplies and widened the scope of investigation to examine hospital sales practices across Delhi, focusing on non urgent products for which patients could reasonably obtain alternatives from the open market, directing the DG to complete the extended probe expeditiously to address practices having an adverse effect on competition.

Mandatory procurement through GeM expands to promote inclusive, transparent, and cashless public purchasing, increasing vendor registration and efficiency.
Mandatory procurement through the Government eMarketplace (GeM) is advanced as a national mission to expand adoption across central departments, states and PSUs by targeted registration, training and outreach. The mission seeks to onboard diverse sellers such as MSMEs, start ups, women entrepreneurs and Self Help Groups, promote cashless, contactless and paperless transactions, and increase procurement through GeM by automating processes to enhance transparency, accountability and efficiency.

Mobility policy competition advances shared, connected and environment friendly transport by selecting and incentivising startups.
Final round of a government-led mobility start-up competition organised by NITI Aayog with Invest India and SIAM awarded winners in ideation and growth stages and highlighted innovations including dockless bike sharing, peer-to-peer carpooling, an Android ticketing solution and a solar powered e bike; the initiative is presented as a policy instrument to identify and incentivise start-ups that further the Government's vision of shared, connected, intermodal and environment friendly mobility and to stimulate employment and growth.

Renewable energy target expands solar generation; policy urges international cooperation, cheaper finance and increased R&D investment.
India commits to a national target to generate 100 GW solar energy by 2022 to increase carbon free energy share, driven by concerns over fossil fuel limits and climate impacts. Achievement is to be pursued through cooperation under the International Solar Alliance, efforts to reduce the cost of finance and technology, attraction of foreign investment, and enhanced support for research and development in solar energy.

Digital agricultural extension expands farmer access to customized advisory and real time reporting through mobile apps and pilot analytics.
The Coffee Board launched mobile-based solutions to digitize growers and estates with geo-tagging, enable real-time reporting and transparent subsidy disbursement via the Coffee Connect field app, and deliver two-way 24x7 customized advisory services through Coffee Krishi Tharanga; parallel pilots in data analytics, artificial intelligence, IoT and distributed ledger technologies aim to provide hyper-local weather forecasts and pest and disease predictive tools to improve productivity and sustainability.

Zero-emission mobility promoted through mass cycling and a global summit to accelerate vehicle electrification and renewable integration.
MOVE Cyclathon promoted clean mobility by encouraging cycling as a people-centered, zero-emission transport mode and building public support. The Cyclathon formed part of a broader campaign including a week of stakeholder events and the MOVE: Global Mobility Summit, structured to accelerate vehicle electrification and renewable energy integration through convening industry, government, academia and civil society to develop a public-interest framework for inclusive, connected mobility.

Review of India Singapore CECA launched to deepen trade, services and investment collaboration; parallel talks on regional trade frameworks.
Launch of the third review of the India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement to deepen bilateral trade, services and investment collaboration, and to identify areas for enhanced market access and regulatory cooperation. Concurrent ministerial engagements addressed review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods framework and sectoral cooperation on market access, investment promotion and services mobility.