Import restriction on precious metal alloys extended; low gold alloys allowed and authorisations required for colloidal compounds.
Imports of certain precious metal alloys containing more than one percent gold by weight are restricted, with the restriction extended to the relevant customs tariff heading at the four digit level to ensure uniform coverage. Alloys containing less than one percent gold remain freely importable to preserve industrial supply. Imports of colloidal metals and compounds under the chemical tariff heading are restricted but may be permitted for industrial and manufacturing sectors upon presentation of an import authorisation to verify actual use.

Free Trade Agreement implementation advances joint governance, SME access, and mobility to deepen trade and technology cooperation.
The Government advances an operational roadmap for the Free Trade Agreement to convert the negotiated text into implementable measures by establishing joint governance mechanisms, unlocking early market access for SMEs and startups, and facilitating mobility of skilled professionals; sectoral focus includes goods, services, defence production, advanced manufacturing, and scaling digital public infrastructure and innovations internationally.

Inclusive entrepreneurship pact expands access to digital tools and networks for entrepreneurs across tiered and rural India.
A government memorandum of understanding creates a public-private partnership to promote inclusive entrepreneurship in Tier II, Tier III and rural India by deploying AI-powered tools, venture launchpads and regional language storytelling under a branded initiative. The collaboration focuses on expanding access to networks and knowledge for underserved founders and leverages flagship startup events and developer platforms to enable innovation showcases, founder-investor networking, and engagement in emerging technology sectors including AI, generative AI, data platforms and blockchain.

Digital payments recognition: awards incentivise innovation and inclusion supported by a regulatory sandbox and public payment rails.
The release details a government awards initiative recognising banks and fintechs for performance across digital payment metrics-transactions, merchant acquisition, fraud and grievance management, acceptance infrastructure, product innovation, and system resilience-while emphasising regulatory facilitation through the central bank's sandbox and public payment rails to accelerate fintech-led inclusion and extend digital payments to remote areas.

Merger control: Competition approval clears Delhivery's near complete acquisition of Ecom Express's shareholding, pending detailed order.
Approval under India's merger control framework for Delhivery Limited's acquisition of at least 99.44% of the fully diluted equity and preference shareholding of Ecom Express Limited; the Proposed Combination is a near complete shareholding transfer between an integrated logistics provider and an e commerce logistics services provider, and the Commission's clearance is subject to a detailed order to follow.

Combination approval enables acquisition of a commercial-vehicle manufacturer by a diversified conglomerate, detailed order to follow.
The Competition Commission approved the proposed combination in which Mahindra and Mahindra Limited will acquire SML Isuzu Limited, a manufacturer and seller of commercial vehicles; the Acquirer is a flagship diversified conglomerate and the Commission's detailed order and any conditions will follow.

Rupee interest rate derivatives: draft RBI Directions set participation rules, product limits, PVBP cap and comprehensive trade reporting.
The draft Master Direction governs OTC and exchange traded Rupee Interest Rate Derivatives, specifying eligible participants, market maker involvement, product eligibility by retail/non retail classification, permitted cross border and back to back arrangements, an aggregate PVBP cap of INR 1,000 crore for non hedging non resident positions, and comprehensive Trade Repository reporting requirements for onshore and offshore related party IRD transactions, with market maker responsibility for accuracy, reconciliation and compliance.

Trade growth and sector drivers show rising exports but a larger merchandise trade deficit in April-May 2025 period.
Estimated merchandise and services trade totals for May 2025 and April-May 2025 are compared with the prior year, reporting merchandise and services exports and imports, combined trade totals, and resulting trade and merchandise deficits; May services data are provisional pending central bank revision. Sectoral export drivers (notably Electronic Goods, Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Marine Products, and RMG) and negative import growth categories are identified, and non petroleum/non gems & jewellery trade is reported separately. Top trading partners showing largest year on year value changes for exports and imports are listed.

Financial inclusion expanded through targeted credit outreach, increasing lending and access for micro entrepreneurs and underserved communities.
The Government emphasises financial inclusion in Ladakh through a Credit Outreach Programme that disbursed loans under central schemes (MUDRA, PMEGP, Stand Up India, PM Vishwakarma) to homestay owners, artisans and small entrepreneurs, while mobilising public sector banks, NABARD and banking correspondents to expand lending, banking touchpoints and access to underserved groups including women and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

GST refund fraud exposed by data-led probe, prompting PAN blocks, account freezes and cross-border investigations.
A data-led probe uncovered a GST refund fraud run through four fictitious firms; investigators used big data analytics and transaction chain analysis to trace funds domestically and internationally. Authorities identified multiple entities sharing PAN, mobile and email details, suspended registrations, recommended PAN blocking with the Income Tax Department, froze 45 bank accounts linked to 27 entities, lodged an FIR, initiated recovery proceedings and arrested a key accused while sharing information with other jurisdictions for further action.

Crypto tax compliance: department notifies undeclared virtual asset income, prompting updated returns and possible verification.
The Income Tax Department has sent electronic nudges to taxpayers with crypto transactions for assessment years 2023-24 and 2024-25, inviting updated ITRs where virtual digital asset income was undeclared. Using data analytics and TDS returns from virtual asset service providers, the department is identifying omissions-particularly missing Schedule VDA entries or improper claims of lower tax/indexation-and may select identified taxpayers for verification or scrutiny. The applicable regime imposes a flat tax with only cost of acquisition allowed as a deduction and disallows set off or carry forward of crypto losses.

Integrated multimodal infrastructure alignment evaluated to enhance connectivity, cargo evacuation, and logistics efficiency across urban and port corridors.
Under the PM GatiShakti framework, five proposals were assessed for conformity with integrated multimodal infrastructure principles: a metro extension to improve airport access and intra city mobility; an access controlled highway to support port cargo evacuation and connect with key hinterland corridors; an elevated urban corridor to reduce congestion along major national highways; and two Multi Modal Logistics Parks designed to aggregate freight, enable modal shifts, and provide integrated cargo services with rail and road connectivity, all aimed at enhancing logistics efficiency and regional socio economic benefits.

Trade and investment facilitation expanded through India-Sweden dialogues, exploring India EU FTA opportunities and targeted sectoral cooperation.
India and Sweden pursued enhanced trade and investment cooperation emphasizing exploration of India EU Free Trade Agreement opportunities and investment facilitation measures such as land access support, skilling partnerships, and fast track clearances. The dialogue targeted structured collaboration in green transition, advanced technologies, resilient supply chains, clean energy, smart manufacturing, mobility, life sciences, and digital technologies, with government agencies and industry stakeholders coordinating to enable regulatory frameworks, technology transfer, and value chain partnerships to support private sector investment.

RBI-compliant Video KYC expands compliant digital onboarding and strengthens fraud detection for regulated financial entities nationwide.
An RBI-compliant AI-powered Video KYC solution enables regulated entities to onboard customers remotely with real-time AI verification checks-deepfake and spoof detection, PAN-Aadhaar and face matching, liveness detection, geo-tagging-and generates tamper-proof, regulator-aligned audit trails. The mobile-first, low-bandwidth platform supports regional languages with live translation, accelerates pre-call form completion, and uses dynamic agent routing and priority queuing to reduce call duration and customer drop-offs while integrating into an existing identity verification API stack.

Alleged kickbacks in corporate payments contested as commercial disputes, with claim of statutory bar to reliance on settlement findings.
Plea alleges kickbacks routed from a mining company to the Chief Minister via his daughter's firm based on interim settlement board findings; respondent denies official involvement, contends payments were for contracted IT services, fully disclosed and traceable, invokes a statutory bar to reliance on settlement findings, and argues existing regulatory fraud investigations preclude parallel probes, seeking dismissal with exemplary costs.

Unified platform for textiles exports to coordinate stakeholders and form sub-task forces for regulatory and export support reforms.
A Task Force on Textiles Exports will create a unified stakeholder platform to address value-chain issues and enhance export competitiveness, covering ESG upgrades, renewable energy, international regulatory compliance, e commerce, regulatory simplification, labour and cost competitiveness, skilling, branding, certification support, export credit collateral for MSMEs, incentive mechanisms, jute product development and productivity improvements. Issue-specific sub-task forces, led by the concerned ministry with Export Promotion Councils and industry participants, will prepare actionable recommendations and a coordinated roadmap to bolster textile exports.

Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement fosters regulatory alignment and investment, prompting Swiss industry to expand manufacturing in India.
India pursued operationalisation of the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement with Switzerland by prioritising regulatory cooperation, investment facilitation, skills development and innovation partnerships. High level ministerial meetings and sectoral roundtables targeted mechanisms to expedite investment decision making, align regulatory frameworks, and promote R&D anchoring, local manufacturing and localisation across biotech, pharma, precision engineering and emerging technologies. A rapid facilitation of land availability for an investor exemplified the government's focus on responsive investor facilitation under TEPA.

Competition clearance: approval for acquisition of significant stake in Kolte-Patil via subscription, purchase and open offer.
Competition clearance granted for acquisition by BREP Asia III India Holding Co VII Pte. Ltd. of a significant shareholding in Kolte-Patil Developers Limited via a combination of share subscription and share purchase, together with an envisaged open offer. The acquirer is an affiliate of funds advised or managed by affiliates of Blackstone Inc. and the target is a listed real estate development company. A detailed order from the Commission will follow.

Income trail test of political leaders proposed to track asset growth and enable tax probes into unexplained wealth.
Punjab BJP leader urged the Income Tax Department to conduct an income trail test of political leaders to compare assets held five to ten years ago with current holdings, aiming to detect unexplained increases and identify potential illicit funding sources as a fiscal investigatory mechanism rather than reliance on drug-testing alone.

Seamless refund of unclaimed assets via coordinated district level drives, paired with simplified digital KYC across the financial sector.
The FSDC directed coordinated action to reduce unclaimed assets and ensure expeditious, seamless refunds to rightful owners via multi agency district level camps, and mandated common KYC norms with simplified, digitalised KYC and digital onboarding for non resident investors to improve user experience and onboarding across the financial sector.