GST process reforms propose automated registration, reconciled returns, risk-based refunds, and standardized adjudication to reduce compliance burdens.
GST process reforms propose automated registration amendments and cancellations, simplified registration for qualifying e-commerce sellers, return reconciliation tools, and electronic mechanisms for reverse-charge reporting and input tax credit correction. Risk-based automated refund processing is proposed for electronic cash-ledger, zero-rated, and inverted-duty claims. Input tax credit refunds would extend to specified input services and capital goods, while several blocked-credit restrictions are proposed for removal. Dispute reforms include notice standards, a minimum threshold for show-cause notices, revised penalties, and capped pre-deposits in penalty-only appeals.

Free trade agreement utilisation enables MSME market access, rules-of-origin awareness, export participation, and foreign investment opportunities while protecting sensitive sectors.
Free Trade Agreements are positioned to preserve sensitive domestic interests, particularly agriculture, fisheries and MSMEs, while widening market access for agricultural, marine, engineering, precision and electronic products and facilitating foreign investment. Proposed FTA utilisation desks across State Councils would assist MSMEs in using preferential arrangements, understanding rules of origin and market-access opportunities, participating in delegations and exhibitions, and presenting products and technologies to overseas markets.

Sole-control acquisition of nutraceutical and pharmaceutical businesses receives competition approval for Bain Capital-managed investment funds.
Competition Commission of India approval permits BCPE Wellbeing Holdco Two Limited and Integral Investments Asia IV Limited, funds managed or advised by Bain Capital, to acquire sole control over Omega-Meyer Limited and Meyer Organics Private Limited. The target businesses provide nutraceuticals globally and in India, while Meyer Organics Private Limited also produces and supplies certain over-the-counter and prescription finished-dose pharmaceuticals in India.

Highway asset acquisition approval covers full ownership transfer of a tollway operator and road-project special purpose vehicles.
Competition Commission of India approval covers the acquisition by Concessoc 41 SAS of the entire shareholding in Vishavari Tollway Private Limited and nine special purpose vehicles. The target entities operate designated national-highway stretches in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Gujarat, while Vishavari Tollway Private Limited provides operation and maintenance and engineering, procurement and construction services for those highway assets.

Competition clearance for hospitality share acquisition permits investment in a company owning and developing hotel and serviced apartment assets.
Competition Commission of India approved the proposed combination involving CPP Investment Board Private Holdings (4) Inc.'s acquisition of certain shareholding in Prestige Hospitality Ventures Limited. The target is an Indian public limited company within the Prestige group and owns and develops hospitality assets, including hotels and serviced apartments. The acquirer is incorporated in Canada and is managed by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Internal group restructuring receives merger-control approval for amalgamating an integrated steel producer into the group's steel manufacturer.
Merger-control approval covers the proposed internal JSW Group restructuring through amalgamation of BMM Ispat Limited into JSW Steel Limited. The amalgamation would convert the group's majority interest in BMM into full ownership and is intended to enhance operational, financial and organisational efficiencies through economies of scale, resource pooling and capital rationalisation. BMM is commercially integrated in the group's supply chain through intra-group sales and procurements.

Transparent land e-auction procedures support bidder preparedness through mock training, registration and earnest-money requirements for phased asset monetisation.
National Land Monetization Corporation is facilitating a two-phase e-tender-cum-e-auction of 459 encumbrance-free land parcels of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited through the RailTel E-Nivida e-Procurement Platform. Participation requires registration, fulfilment of prescribed requirements and submission of earnest money deposit within the applicable deadlines. Physical and online mock e-auction training familiarises prospective bidders with the bidding interface and participation procedure. Investor outreach provides information on plot details, eligibility requirements, registration and bidding conditions.

Preventive narcotics outreach promotes drug awareness, community participation, and sustainable livelihood alternatives to discourage illicit cannabis cultivation.
Preventive outreach in Malana village promoted drug awareness, youth engagement, community participation and alternative development in an area associated with illicit cannabis cultivation. Residents were sensitised to the harmful effects of cannabis, charas and hashish oil consumption and encouraged to pursue sustainable alternatives, including apiculture, animal husbandry, dairy activities and tourism. Community discussions addressed livelihood barriers, ecological concerns, and commitments to refrain from drug consumption and discourage illicit cannabis cultivation.

Cross-border financial cooperation guides work on market access, sustainable finance, fintech safeguards, and payment interoperability.
India-UK financial-markets cooperation covers capital-market connectivity, cross-border listings, investor access and development of GIFT IFSC as an international financial centre. Engagement also addresses insurance, pensions, asset management, sustainable-finance disclosures and cross-border investment. Fintech cooperation includes digital public infrastructure, central bank digital currencies, data exchange, responsible artificial intelligence, fraud prevention, cyber security and operational resilience. Cross-border payments work prioritises reduced frictions, transparency, efficiency and interoperability of electronic payment infrastructures.

Investment commitments and tariff predictability under India-EFTA TEPA support market access, supply-chain planning, and long-term bilateral trade.
India-EFTA TEPA establishes reciprocal market-access commitments, with EFTA coverage extending to most Indian exports and full coverage for non-agricultural products. Tariff predictability is intended to support investment planning, supply-chain development and longer-term business partnerships. Agricultural opportunities may arise where duties have been reduced to zero. Article 7.1 includes an investment commitment under which the EFTA States are to aim to increase foreign direct investment into India and facilitate employment generation within specified implementation periods.

Foreign investment engagement focuses on expanded partnerships across financial services, manufacturing, insurance, and emerging technologies in India.
India-U.S. trade and investment engagement was pursued through discussions with leading United States companies on expanding investment, partnerships and commercial operations in India. Financial-sector discussions addressed private equity, asset and wealth management, insurance, and financial services, including prospective engagement aligned with the objective of insurance access for all by 2047.

Policy repo rate recalibration responds to inflationary pressures, adopting calibrated tightening while future actions depend on growth and inflation conditions.
Monetary policy is recalibrated through an increase in the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility by 25 basis points to 5.50 per cent. The monetary policy stance shifts to calibrated tightening, indicating that near-term rate reductions are excluded and that subsequent action may consist of a rate increase or a pause, depending on evolving conditions and the outlook. Further rate action depends on growth-inflation developments, underlying inflation, broadening price pressures, second-round effects and demand impulses.

Index of Services Production expansion proposes broader service-sector coverage through education, health, residential care, public administration and defence.
The Index of Services Production is proposed to expand beyond its initial formal-sector coverage, which relies on high-frequency administrative data and GST outward-supplies data. Education, Human Health and Residential Care, and Public Administration and Defence are proposed for inclusion. Their incorporation would increase coverage of services-sector Gross Value Added and support aggregation of sub-sectoral indices into a unified measure of short-term services-sector movements. Stakeholder views are invited on the proposed methodology.

Cross-border gold smuggling enforcement addresses concealed foreign-origin gold transport through customs seizure, arrest, and investigation of organised networks.
Intelligence-led customs enforcement targeted cross-border gold smuggling through surveillance and interception of four persons travelling from a border route. Personal searches recovered foreign-origin gold biscuits concealed in specially tailored cloth waist belts. Seventy-two gold biscuits were seized under relevant provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, and the four persons were arrested. Investigation continues into organised networks and wider syndicates involved in the movement and distribution of smuggled gold.

Financial inclusion drives digital lending, insurance claim awareness, portal enrolment, and banking access for marginalised sections.
Banks were urged to expand brick-and-mortar branches and banking correspondent coverage in unbanked villages, strengthen digital outreach, and implement end-to-end digital loan processing. Working-capital lending for micro-enterprises through UPI-linked credit lines and credit cards was highlighted. Banks were also directed to increase awareness of insurance claim eligibility, exercise care in claim-related grievance handling, and enrol new PMJJBY and PMSBY beneficiaries through the Jan Suraksha portal.

SME growth equity fund targets scalable enterprises, prioritising manufacturing and industrial clusters to strengthen investment, productivity and competitiveness.
Union Cabinet approval commits Rs.10,000 crore towards establishment of the SME Growth Fund as an Alternative Investment Fund framework for direct equity investment in small and medium enterprises. The initiative is intended to catalyse long-term, patient growth capital for SMEs and address the identified shortage of equity financing for enterprises beyond the early stage, where existing equity-support funds predominantly serve micro and early-stage businesses.

Integrated transport planning framework establishes an SPV for national master planning, major-project appraisal, monitoring, and transport data analytics.
Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority will function as a special purpose vehicle for integrated transport and logistics planning, research, technical project appraisal, monitoring, policy support and data analytics. It will prepare a long-term National Transport Master Plan, assess sectoral and annual plans for alignment and multimodal integration, technically appraise and monitor specified major infrastructure projects, and undertake impact assessments. It will also maintain a unified transport data repository and support logistics-policy review, capacity building, training, skilling, research and innovation.

Corporate social responsibility should shift from statutory compliance to needs-based, evidence-led collaboration with impact assessment and technology-enabled monitoring.
CSR is grounded in trusteeship and in companies' responsibilities to employees, communities and the environment, rather than shareholders alone. The framework includes the Unspent CSR Account, multi-year projects, certification of fund utilisation and impact assessment. CSR is intended to leverage corporate resources, technology and expertise, rather than merely supplement public expenditure. Needs-based project selection, community participation, need and social-impact assessment, implementing-agency capacity, resource pooling and technology-enabled monitoring are emphasised to move from compliance and spending towards evidence-based transformation.

Financial stability requires targeted oversight and system-wide resilience against interconnected debt, leverage, cyber, technology, and cross-border shocks.
Financial stability is pursued by strengthening resilience rather than preventing every shock. The framework combines prudent regulation, risk-based supervision, stress testing, countercyclical macroprudential measures, targeted temporary liquidity assistance and resolution. Monetary policy remains directed to price stability, while financial-stability risks are addressed through regulatory, supervisory and macroprudential tools. System-wide resilience requires sound banks and NBFCs, reliable payment and technology infrastructure, robust data on interconnected exposures, scenario analysis, credible safety nets, and proactive proportionate oversight of cyber, model and third-party risks.

Drug-abuse prevention awareness promotes informed refusal, resistance to peer pressure, community participation, drug-de-addiction pledges, and healthy drug-free lifestyles.
Drug-abuse prevention awareness in opium-cultivation areas focused on the harms of opium, cannabis and other illicit drugs, informed refusal at first exposure, resistance to peer pressure, and prevention of progression from use to dependence. Programmes for students, cultivators and residents used interactive sessions, campaign banners, community pledges, Gram Sabha participation and cleanliness drives to promote healthy drug-free lifestyles, community participation and collective action against addiction.