AAPI: Newsletter, December 2025

DELHI, December 2025

Index of this Newsletter

INDIA

INDIA & THE WORLD

21. India China Trade: India's exports to China climb for 7 straight months in FY26, help New Delhi soften US tariff blow
22. Modi's Upcoming Oman Visit: Strengthening 70 Years of Diplomatic Relations
23. Africa’s Croesus Inspired by RIL to Beat Jamnagar Unit
24. India Has Lot of Potential in Agricultural Exports to Russia
25. Global Cereal Output to Cross 3 Billion Tonnes for First Time, Stocks Reach Highest Levels in Decades: FAO

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DELHI, December 2025

NEWSLETTER, December 2025

INDIA

– GENERAL POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURES, COUNTRY FINANCES, ETC.

1. Where grassroots leadership begins: Transforming women’s livelihoods in India

ET Gov. 4 Dec. 2025

In a quiet corner of the Livelihoods India Summit 2025—an annual gathering organised by Access Development Services to reflect on the transformative challenges and possibilities of India’s grassroots economy—Anoop Verma sat down with Sanchita Mitra, National Coordinator of SEWA Bharat.

What followed was a grounded conversation on the evolution of SEWA’s women-led movement, its role in financial inclusion, the urgent realities facing informal women workers, and the new aspirations emerging among young girls in marginalised communities.

In this exchange, Mitra explains how SEWA’s Gandhian ethos continues to guide millions of women across 18 states, and why strengthening dignity, safety, and opportunity remains central to India’s journey towards Viksit Bharat.

Edited excerpts:

To begin with, could you tell us about SEWA Bharat — its origins, vision, and the kind of work it does?

SEWA is fundamentally a movement of women workers, especially those employed in the informal economy. Our founder, the late Ela Bhatt, began organising women in Gujarat when she realised that although these women contributed significantly to the economy, their labour remained invisible and unrecognised. They lacked institutional identity and had no access to financial or social support.

In 1972, she brought these women together and formed a union structure in Ahmedabad. The early years were shaped entirely by the needs articulated by the grassroots women themselves. One of the first demands was access to safe financial services. At that time, women did not possess Aadhaar cards or bank accounts, and no institution trusted them with credit. Elaben realised they needed their own banking system.

After many hurdles, she established SEWA Bank, the first women-owned cooperative bank for workers in the informal economy. Every woman was a shareholder. Elaben also pioneered the belief that women do not require collateral and that poor women are creditworthy — an approach that later influenced the microfinance sector and even the SHG movement promoted by the Government of India.

Through SEWA Bank, we also discovered how deeply a woman’s economic journey is shaped by skilling, health, childcare, access to markets, and social security. These needs gradually evolved into full-fledged programmes. As SEWA’s work caught global attention, particularly after Elaben received the Magsaysay Award, leaders from several Indian states expressed interest in starting SEWA. Elaben and Reemaben travelled across states to assess the feasibility of new SEWAs. Some units flourished, others did not due to leadership or political reasons.

The spread was rapid and organic. Since there was no formal blueprint, there emerged a need for coordinated support across the country. This led to the creation of SEWA Bharat in 1984 to nurture and expand the movement nationally. Today, SEWA’s movement spans 18 states and has a direct membership of 3.2 million women.

What is the core mission of SEWA Bharat today?

SEWA Bharat’s mission is to create and nurture new SEWAs across India, strengthen women workers, and ensure that their perspectives reach policymakers, institutions, and society at large. Our work is grounded in Gandhian principles of decentralisation, autonomy, and local leadership. Each SEWA institution is autonomous and women-owned, and our efforts focus on enabling women to own, manage, and benefit from their enterprises and cooperatives.

We work simultaneously on income security and social security, while also addressing market access, skilling, and childcare. A great deal of emphasis is placed on leadership development at the grassroots. Women leaders articulate their needs at various state and national forums, influencing policy through their lived experiences. Their voices form the most powerful foundation of our advocacy.

How does SEWA engage with policy and government systems?

In the early years, SEWA focused primarily on direct interventions such as financial inclusion, skilling, health, and livelihoods. Over time, we realised that without systemic change, these interventions would always have limits. This led us into policy engagement. We began presenting our research and field findings to government departments, academics, and policymakers so that laws, systems, and programmes could reflect the realities of women in the informal economy.

SEWA has contributed to several policy frameworks, including the Social Security Policy for informal sector workers. In eight states, SEWA Bharat is actively involved in nurturing institutions, implementing programmes, and strengthening community structures. Our research team generates continuous evidence, ensuring that policy ideas remain grounded in real experiences.

What is the relationship between SEWA Bharat and SEWA Bank today?

SEWA Bank is an autonomous cooperative bank, though we share a common value system. It originally started as an urban cooperative bank but has since expanded to several rural areas as well. With the government’s evolving cooperative banking policies, all cooperative banks may eventually come under centralised frameworks. Oversight is necessary to prevent misuse of funds, but too much control could dilute the cooperative spirit. We will have to wait and see how the policy evolves.

Apart from SEWA Bank, does SEWA Bharat also provide financial services to women?

Since SEWA Bank’s jurisdiction is defined by RBI regulations and cannot extend everywhere, we adopted multiple models to ensure financial inclusion. In Delhi, Indore, Bihar, and other states, we created Thrift and Credit Cooperative Societies modelled on SEWA Bank but governed under state cooperative laws. In Uttarakhand, we partnered with the State Bank of India as a Business Correspondent, bringing doorstep banking services to women workers. We also work extensively on policy engagement to ensure banks and government agencies create services that are more suited to women’s needs. So financial empowerment remains a central pillar of our work, both through direct services and systemic advocacy.

Recently, there has been discussion about collaborative governance and leadership by non-state actors. Are such ideas practical in the Indian context?

India has a long tradition of strong national leaders — Gandhi, Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and now Prime Minister Modi. Leadership is important, and I don’t deny that. But what truly matters is the leader’s approach. If a leader believes in collaborative governance, then government, civil society, communities, marketplaces, and families can work together. All these actors influence each other.

If we work only with women and not with their families, our efforts will not reach their full potential. If we want to improve women’s incomes, we must work with corporations and municipal bodies to ensure better market access. If women need representation, they must be included in government committees. Collaboration is already happening in pockets, but it needs to be scaled up. Recognition of civil society organisations and continuous investment in research are essential for such collaboration.

What are the major challenges women and girls still face in India?

India’s size and diversity mean that challenges vary enormously, but certain patterns are visible everywhere. One major challenge concerns adolescent girls. Many do not attend college because institutions are located far from their homes, and families worry about safety. Access to public spaces remains restricted. Some fears are real, others are social myths, but both contribute to limiting opportunities.

For adult women, interacting with public systems is often intimidating. A visit to a bank, a ration shop, or a government office generally means dealing with male staff, and these spaces are not always respectful or welcoming. Even where women staff exist, they often lack sensitivity to the realities of informal women workers.

Poverty intensifies all disadvantages. As Elaben often said, poverty is a double burden: one suffers because one is poor, and poverty also prevents access to good education, confidence, and opportunities. A woman may be denied a job simply because she cannot speak English, even when the job does not require English. Poverty affects not only material well-being but also perception and treatment.

What can the government do to address these challenges?

The government has a major role to play, but its efforts must work hand-in-hand with communities and civil society. Public spaces must become safer so that girls can continue their education. ICDS centres and childcare systems must be strengthened so that women can participate financially without compromising caregiving responsibilities. Government offices, banks, and ration shops need to become more respectful, accessible, and user-friendly for women. Society must also undergo cultural change—how families treat women and how public institutions perceive poor women must shift towards equality and dignity.

Could you speak about SEWA’s long struggle for the Street Vendors Act?

SEWA advocated for nearly 30 years for the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act. Vendors are an essential part of India’s urban life, yet they are often seen as obstructions. When we drive, we complain about them, but we forget that they, too, have a right to live and work with dignity. Proper vending zones are essential. With the scale of unemployment we see in India, formal employment alone cannot absorb everyone. Supporting self-employment is crucial for a country of our size.

How are young girls from informal worker families engaging with new opportunities?

This is an area of great hope. Young girls today are exploring new identities and new forms of work. One girl introduced herself as a YouTuber; another is learning coding; others use Instagram to market their products. However, as soon as the question of investment arises—such as buying a camera—many step back because the idea of spending money is frightening. They do what they can with whatever resources they have at home. As AI and digital economies expand, we must help these young girls acquire the skills and confidence to participate meaningfully in these emerging sectors.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I hope the media continues to highlight the issues of women workers more deeply. Policymakers, citizens, and all stakeholders need to understand the lived realities of women in the informal economy. These women contribute immensely to our society. They deserve visibility, respect, and the full protection of their rights.

2. Labour Codes India: Four Labour Codes implemented in India in one of biggest workforce reforms

ETGov. 23 Nov. 2025

India has officially implemented four new Labour Codes, consolidating 29 existing laws to modernise its labor governance.

Four New Labour Codes: In a landmark move aimed at modernising India’s labour governance, the government on Friday implemented the Four Labour Codes—the Code on Wages (2019), Industrial Relations Code (2020), Code on Social Security (2020), and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSHWC) Code (2020)—repealing and rationalising 29 existing central labour laws.

Calling it a “historic decision”, the Government said the new framework simplifies decades-old, fragmented labour rules, enhances worker welfare, strengthens safety standards and aligns India’s labour ecosystem with global best practices. The implementation is effective 21 November 2025, following years of consultation and preparatory work.

A modern framework for a future-ready workforce

The Codes aim to create “a protected, future-ready workforce and resilient industries”, the government said, emphasising that the transformation will support employment generation and advance labour reforms under Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

Many of India’s labour laws date back to the 1930s–1950s, drafted for an economic structure vastly different from today’s digital and gig-driven economy. Over the years, these outdated, often overlapping laws increased compliance complexity and left large sections of workers -- especially gig, informal and contract labour -- outside the social safety net.

The Labour Codes consolidate these provisions into four comprehensive laws designed to ensure better wages, social security, occupational safety, gender equality, and simplified compliance.

How the labour landscape changes

A comparison of the labour ecosystem before and after implementation shows sweeping reform across employment, wages, safety and compliance:

Mandatory appointment letters for all workers, strengthening transparency and formalisation.

Universal social security coverage, including gig and platform workers, with PF, ESIC, insurance and other benefits.

Statutory right to minimum wages for all workers, replacing the earlier limited, scheduled-industry framework.

Free annual health check-ups for workers above 40, promoting preventive healthcare.

Mandatory timely payment of wages, ending discretionary or delayed wage practices.

Women allowed to work night shifts across sectors, including mining and hazardous industries, with safety measures and consent.

Pan-India ESIC coverage, including for small and hazardous establishments.

Single registration, licence and return, sharply reducing compliance burden.

Sector-wise impact

The four codes introduce some of the most comprehensive worker protections India has seen, with targeted reforms across critical sectors:

Fixed-Term Employees: entitlement to all benefits enjoyed by permanent staff, including gratuity after one year.

Gig & Platform Workers: first-time legal recognition; aggregators to contribute 1–2 per cent of turnover to their welfare funds.

Contract Workers: guaranteed social security, health benefits, annual medical checks and fair treatment.

Women Workers: equal pay, non-discrimination, expanded family definition, night-shift opportunities with safety norms.

Youth Workers: mandatory minimum wages, appointment letters, and wages during leave to prevent exploitation.

MSME Workers: social security coverage, minimum wages, safe working conditions and clear working-hour norms.

Beedi, Plantation, Textile and Dock Workers: expanded safety requirements, higher wages, medical care, regulated hours and mandatory overtime payments.

Audio-Visual & Digital Media Workers: structured employment terms, timely wages and overtime protections.

Mine and Hazardous Industry Workers: national safety standards, annual check-ups, mandated safety committees and protections for women.

IT & ITES: mandatory salary release by the 7th of each month, grievance redressal, equal pay and night-shift opportunities for women.

Export Sector Workers: gratuity, PF, safe night-shifts for women and timely wage protections.

Additional reforms

Beyond sector-specific measures, the Codes roll out several systemic improvements:

National Floor Wage ensuring no worker falls below a minimum living standard.

Gender-neutral employment provisions, including protections for transgender persons.

Inspector-cum-Facilitator system, focusing on guidance over punitive enforcement.

Faster dispute resolution through two-member Industrial Tribunals.

A National OSH Board to standardise safety norms across industries.

Mandatory safety committees in establishments with 500+ workers.

Higher factory applicability thresholds, easing regulatory load for small businesses.

The government highlighted India’s growing social-security footprint -- rising from 19 per cent of the workforce in 2015 to over 64 per cent in 2025. The Codes now seek to widen this net further, embedding portability of benefits across states and sectors, crucial for gig workers, migrants and informal labour.

During the transition, existing rules and notifications under old labour laws will continue where required, until replaced by new schemes and regulations framed in consultation with stakeholders.

3. Farmer Income Trails Growth in Agricultural Output

RuralVoice, 2 Dec. 2025, Harvir Singh

The GDP and GVA data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on November 28th clarify this picture. They also clearly show that the terms of trade are unfavorable for agriculture and allied sectors. According to the CSO, overall GDP is projected to grow at 8.2 percent and GVA at 8.1 percent in the second quarter.

Thanks to a better monsoon and the hard work of farmers, agriculture and allied sectors achieved a growth rate of 3.5 percent in the second quarter of the current financial year (2025-26), but income growth lagged behind. This has occurred for two consecutive quarters in which the value of agricultural and allied sector production did not increase in proportion to output growth. This is a direct result of falling prices of agricultural products. Other sectors of the economy, such as manufacturing, real estate, and financial services, experienced higher GVA growth rates than GDP in both the first and second quarters.

This year saw a better monsoon. Although excessive rainfall and flooding damaged crops in many areas, better rainfall led to increased crop acreage and production during the Kharif season. Consequently, GDP growth for agriculture and allied sectors rose by 3.5 percent, although this was slightly lower than the 3.7 percent growth in the first quarter.

But the story is different. The first and second quarters of the current year have both seen lower growth rates of gross value added (GVA) in agriculture and allied sectors at current prices compared to constant prices (2011-12). GVA for agriculture and allied sectors at constant prices grew by 3.7 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively, in the first two quarters. However, GVA at current prices in the first quarter was 3.2 percent - lower than GVA at constant prices. In the second quarter, it fell to only 1.8 percent. This means that value has not increased in proportion to production. In other words, farmers' income has not increased in proportion to their production. It also means that due to falling prices, the agricultural sector has been in a deflationary state for two quarters.

If we look at other sectors of the economy, the situation is the opposite: value has increased more than production. The manufacturing sector grew at 7.7 percent at constant prices in the first quarter, while its growth rate at current prices in the same quarter was 10.10 percent. This means its income was higher. Similarly, GVA at constant prices in the second quarter was 9.1 percent, while at current prices it was 11.7 percent. In the tertiary sector, the GVA growth rate at current prices was higher than at constant prices in both quarters. For real estate and financial services, the figures were 9.5 percent and 11 percent in the first quarter, and 10.2 percent and 11.5 percent in the second quarter.

These technically complex figures largely illuminate the weak position of the agricultural sector. Agriculture and allied sectors contribute 14 percent to GDP, a share comparable to manufacturing. The service sector contributes the most to economic growth. According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey, 46 percent of the country's working population depends on agriculture. Therefore, low income growth in this sector is not a sign of a strong economy. However, some of the country's leading economists believe that in the next few years, more than half of the income of agriculture-dependent households will come from non-agricultural activities. According to a NABARD survey, this share is steadily increasing and has crossed 40 percent.

Despite the 3.5 percent growth rate of agriculture and allied sectors in the second quarter, the situation on the crop production front is not much better. This is reflected in the first advance estimates of Kharif season production, released a day before the GDP figures. Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also said in a statement releasing these figures that crops in many areas have been affected by excessive rainfall and natural disasters. His statement could also indicate that these figures may be revised downward in the second preliminary estimate.

According to the first advance estimates, rice production in the Kharif season (2025-26) is projected to increase from 1227.72 lakh tonnes last year to 1245.04 lakh tonnes. Maize production has also seen a significant increase, with this year's Kharif production estimated to rise from 248 lakh tonnes last year to 283.03 lakh tonnes. However, other crops, except these two, have either declined or shown only marginal increases. For example, pulse production has declined from 77.33 lakh tonnes last year to 74.13 lakh tonnes. Tur, urad, and moong production have also declined. Similarly, oilseed production has fallen from 280.23 lakh tonnes to 275.63 lakh tonnes this year. Peanut production is projected to increase from 104.12 lakh tonnes to 110.93 lakh tonnes this Kharif season. However, production of soybean, the second major Kharif oilseed crop, has fallen by nearly 10 lakh tonnes and is estimated at 142.66 lakh tonnes, down from last year's 152.68 lakh tonnes. Significantly, we are dependent on imports for edible oils and pulses, while domestic production is declining and farmers are not even receiving the minimum support price (MSP).

Production of cotton, the main commercial Kharif crop, is estimated to decline from last year's 297.24 lakh bales to 292.15 lakh bales. Reports have emerged from most cotton-producing regions of the country that cotton farmers are selling their produce at prices approximately Rs 1,000 per quintal below the MSP. The government has allowed duty-free imports of cotton until December 2025. Jute production has declined, and sugarcane production is projected to increase marginally to 4756.14 lakh tonnes from last year's 4546.11 lakh tonnes.

These figures confirm a moderate increase in agricultural GDP, but the overall situation is not very encouraging. The decline in crop prices is directly affecting GVA. The government and the Reserve Bank are succeeding in controlling inflation as food prices continue to fall, but the GVA figures clearly show the direct impact this is having on farmers' incomes.

These figures also indicate a difficult period for the agricultural sector, as in the current Kharif marketing season, farmers are not even receiving MSP for most crops, except where there is a strong paddy procurement system in some states. This means the agricultural sector is facing a structural crisis, which will directly affect the rural economy.

4. Amazon to invest $35 billion in India by 2030 — here’s where all that money is going

Times Now Digital, 10 Dec. 2025

amazon to invest $35 billion in india by 2030 — here’s where all that money is going

Amazon has announced a new plan to pump $35 billion into India by 2030 as it sharpens its focus on artificial intelligence and logistics. The investment marks one of the company’s largest commitments to any international market and adds to the $40 billion it has already deployed since entering India in 2010.

The fresh capital is set to push the retailer’s efforts to upgrade its AI stack, Job creation, scale its delivery backbone, and reinforce its competitive edge in an increasingly crowded e-commerce space.

“By 2030, Amazon plans to create one million additional job opportunities, boosting cumulative exports to $80 billion, delivering AI benefits to 15 million small businesses, hundreds of millions of shoppers, and providing AI education and career exploration opportunities to 4 million government school students,” the company said.

Racing Ahead In Quick Commerce

The move comes as Amazon intensifies its push into 10-minute deliveries, a segment where competition has skyrocketed. In this fast-expanding market, it is up against Blinkit, Instamart, Zepto, BigBasket, and Flipkart Minutes. Quick commerce rivals continue to chase public market capital even as cash burn rises, while Amazon is rapidly building out its urban dark-store network. The company recently said it was opening two new dark stores every day across major metros, with a target of hitting 300 locations by year-end.

Cost Discipline And Cloud Ambitions

Amazon’s India units have also been tightening costs. Across its major entities, from Amazon Seller Services and Amazon Transport Services to Amazon Wholesale and Amazon Pay, losses narrowed in FY25 through cuts in advertising and employee expenses. Revenue for Amazon Seller Services grew 19 per cent to Rs 30,139 crore, marking a steady rebound from the highs of the pandemic years.

“We have invested at scale in growing the physical and digital infrastructure for small businesses in India, creating millions of jobs,” Amit Agarwal, SVP of emerging markets at Amazon, said in a statement.

Tech giants across the US are following a similar trajectory. Microsoft has outlined a $17.5-billion plan for India, while Google is investing $15 billion to establish a major AI hub in Visakhapatnam.

5. ITC's Water Security Initiatives: Revolutionizing Agriculture and Community Welfare

ET Gov. 8 Dec. 2025

Water security has emerged as a critical concern for India’s development trajectory, particularly in sectors connected to agriculture, rural livelihoods and natural resource management. ITC Ltd., through its longstanding engagement with farming communities and its extensive agri value chains, has been involved in a range of water stewardship, conservation and demand-side management initiatives across multiple states.

This interaction with S. Sivakumar, Group Head – Agri & IT Businesses, ITC Ltd., took place on the sidelines of the Livelihoods India Summit 2025, organised by ACCESS Development Services in New Delhi. In the conversation with Anoop Verma, Sivakumar outlines India’s structural water challenges, explains the approach ITC has taken over three decades of work in this domain, and discusses the technological, institutional and community-level mechanisms required for more efficient and sustainable water governance.

Edited excerpts:

You spoke about water as an essential resource linked to economic development and a critical factor for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Could you elaborate on your perspective?

The starting point is simple but stark: India has 18% of the world’s people, but only 4% of its freshwater resources. This imbalance makes water an “under-endowed” resource, and therefore we must be extremely careful in how we use, conserve, recycle, and manage it as an entire water economy. Water is a real risk for many geographies—whether for businesses, individuals, or farmers. It is life itself.

At ITC, we recognised this decades ago. Whether it is our factories, our agricultural value chains, or the communities we work in, our responsibility is to ensure water is managed well. That is why ITC’s Water Stewardship Programme—probably the largest private-sector initiative of its kind in India—has been built over years through grassroots interventions.

How does ITC’s water stewardship programme work at the ground level?

The work begins within our own factory or office boundaries—rainwater harvesting, waste-water management, recycling, and efficient usage. But the larger impact comes from working with farmers, because agriculture accounts for over 85 percent of India’s water consumption.

Through water user groups and FPOs, we build community capacity, provide technical assistance, link them to government schemes, and invest our own resources to create water structures—check dams, bunds, farm ponds and more. This supply-side intervention has enabled irrigation across 1.5 million acres and created a water storage potential of around 60 million cubic metres.

What about the demand side of water management, particularly in agriculture?

After decades of supply-side work, we realised that demand-side management is even more critical. Working with farmers, scientists, universities and our own research teams, we help them adopt agronomic practices that use less water and often produce better quality crops.

The challenge is that conserving water does not directly translate into monetary gains because water and power are hardly priced in India. Therefore, we demonstrate how precision irrigation improves crop quality, ensures critical irrigation during stress periods, and ultimately increases income. Through these interventions across our sourcing areas, annual water savings have reached 1,400 million cubic metres—many times more than the cumulative supply-side gains of 30 years.

You also mentioned river-basin level interventions. What does ITC do at that scale?

Managing water only at farm or village level is not enough. Water flows across entire river basins. Therefore, we work in priority river basins—identified either by ITC or by government agencies—to make them net water-positive by combining supply-side and demand-side measures.

So far, we have worked across five river basins. Our scale and experience also allow us to work with several state governments to train their officers so they can expand these interventions. While ITC builds the first model, government partnerships help replicate it widely.

ITC is one of India’s largest agribusiness companies. Your work with farmers must give you deep insights into water challenges. What are the key challenges India faces in this area?

The biggest challenge is enabling farmers to see individual value in adopting water-saving practices. Saying “save 100 litres of water” does not motivate behavioural change. But if farmers see that saving water improves crop quality, reduces fertiliser use, or increases income, then adoption becomes natural.

Therefore, the crucial challenge is translating a common-resource conservation goal into individual economic gain. This requires micro-level technologies, crop-specific agronomic practices, and clear demonstration of benefits.

Property rights over water are complex. Do you think India needs stronger regulation for water governance?

Regulation is important, but self-governance is far more effective. Regulation often ends up being controlled by a dominant few. Real water governance happens when communities form water user groups, pool resources, understand their hydro-geological realities, and decide on structures—form ponds, check dams, tanks—based on local needs.

When everyone contributes—farmers, government programmes, ITC—it ensures accountability and empowerment. Registration and dispute resolution mechanisms are needed, yes, but the core lies in building democratic, self-governing water institutions at the grassroots.

India often looks to Israel for advanced water technologies. Do we have adequate technology within the country, or do we need to import solutions?

We have been long-time partners with Israel, and their technologies are valuable. Many Israeli companies have established operations in India, including through the I2U2 partnership (India, Israel, US, UAE). But India is also advanced in several water technologies, and innovations continue to evolve globally.

Technology is not the limiting factor. We already have many effective solutions. The real challenge is awareness and adoption—by households, farmers, urban consumers, and factories. People must understand the value of these technologies and the implications of not using them. Continuous innovation, industry efforts, and government collaboration keep the pipeline strong.

- Agriculture, Fishing and Rural Development

6. Escorts Kubota Introduces Third-Generation Ride-On Rice Transplanters in India

RuralVoice, Nov 22, 2025

Escorts Kubota Limited has launched its third-generation KA6 and KA8 ride-on rice transplanters in India, offering higher productivity, precision and operator comfort. Powered by fuel-efficient Kubota engines, the models feature smart turning, automatic lift, improved planting claws and ergonomic design. Introduced across seven states, the machines aim to boost mechanized paddy farming and address labour shortages with reliable, high-performance technology.

Escorts Kubota Limited (EKL), one of India’s leading engineering conglomerates in the agricultural and construction equipment space, has introduced its third-generation Ride-On Rice Transplanters – KA6 and KA8 under Kubota Brand. Engineered in Japan, the new models combine advanced technology with on-field practicality to deliver higher productivity, operator comfort and planting precision. The models have been introduced across 7 states - Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Telangana, where demand for mechanized paddy solutions is rising.

The KA6 and KA8 transplanters are powered by Kubota’s fuel-efficient engines that deliver 21 & 24 horsepower, ensuring dependable performance even in tough field conditions.

Both models come with a smart turning system for smoother handling and an automatic lift function that makes cornering easier. The Multifunction control lever allows effortless operation, while the horizontal control mechanism helps maintain uniform planting depth. The redesigned planting claws significantly reduces missed planting, and ensure seedlings are placed evenly, and improved New Seedling picking guide allows high accuracy and planting will improve the crop growth and yield consistency.

Operator comfort has also been thoughtfully improved. The machines feature a wider platform for easier movement, an ergonomic layout for reduced fatigue, and LED lights that make farming easier even in the after-sunset hours. The lighter planting section and longer wheelbase enhance balance and stability, allowing to cross the big ridges easily and making the transplanters suitable for extended work in deep wet field conditions.

Speaking about the launch, Mr. Bharat Madan, Chief Financial Officer & Wholetime Director, said, “India’s farmers have long carried the responsibility of feeding the nation, often through arduous work in challenging conditions. At Escorts Kubota Limited, we view mechanization as a national mission to empower farmers, enhance their dignity, and make agriculture more efficient and sustainable. The new KA Series rice transplanters mark a significant milestone in this journey, transforming a labour-intensive process with precision, comfort, and innovation. By blending global technology with local insights, we continue to lead the mechanization movement in India—advancing productivity, reliability, and prosperity for farmers across the country.”

Mr. Rajan Chugh, Chief Officer, Agri Solutions Business Division, added, “The KA6 and KA8 transplanters embody our continuous commitment to innovation and farmer-centric design. Every feature has been engineered to address real challenges in paddy fields, from labour shortage to long working hours, and to deliver consistent performance season after season. With their higher horsepower, smart turning capability and ergonomic layout, these machines make rice transplanting faster, uniform and more profitable for the modern farmer.”

7. India’s Oilseed Output Hits Record High, but Edible Oil Imports Reach $18.3 Billion

Rural Voice, 25 Nov. 2025, Ajeet Singh

India’s oilseed production has touched a record high in 2024–25, with major gains in soybean and groundnut output. Yet the country’s dependence on edible oil imports has not reduced while the import bill has risen sharply.

India’s oilseed sector is witnessing strong production gains this year, yet the country’s edible oil import bill continues to climb—highlighting persistent structural challenges in domestic oilseed cultivation and market alignment. In a communication to stakeholders, Solvent Extractors’ Association of India President Sanjeev Asthana outlined key concerns and urged closer coordination between the government and industry.

According to the Government’s final production estimates for 2024–25, India’s oilseed output has reached a record 429.89 lakh tonnes, up 32.20 lakh tonnes from last year. Soybean production is estimated at 152.68 lakh tonnes, while groundnut output has risen to 119.42 lakh tonnes, both registering double-digit growth. “While higher production would typically help moderate import demand, current edible oil import levels have not yet shown a corresponding decline. This underscores the importance of continued collaboration between the government and industry for crop estimation to ensure better market alignment and planning,” Asthana noted in the letter.

Data released by the Ministry of Agriculture shows that as of 21 November, oilseed acreage under Rabi crops has increased by over 3 lakh hectares, reaching 76.64 lakh hectares against the normal 86.78 lakh hectares. Mustard acreage alone has expanded by 4.22 lakh hectares, driven by favourable market prices. If weather conditions remain supportive, an 8–10 lakh tonne increase in mustard output is expected.

Despite these positive indicators, India still imports nearly 60% of its edible oil requirement. Imports remain around last year’s level of 160 lakh tonnes, but the import bill has surged from Rs 1.31 lakh crore to Rs 1.61 lakh crore (US$18.3 billion). “This is a cause of concern for both the Government and the industry, as our import dependence has not reduced while the import bill has risen sharply,” Asthana stated.

He further cautioned that the existing MSP structure for rice and wheat continues to divert farmers away from oilseed cultivation. Despite the recent hikes in MSP for oilseeds, more judicious calibration of MSPs is urgently required.

Industry representatives also noted that recent policy steps, such as increasing the duty difference between crude and refined oils from 8.25% to 19.25%, have effectively curbed imports of RBD palm oil. However, a new challenge has emerged with large volumes of refined soybean and sunflower oil entering India duty-free from Nepal under the SAFTA framework. The Association has urged Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to channelize these imports through NAFED or other government agencies to prevent market distortions.

The SEA has also called for the reintroduction of weekly sowing update data on various crops, including oilseeds, under the “All India Crop Situation” section on the Agriculture Ministry’s website. The practice, discontinued last year, was widely used by oil meal manufacturers, vegetable oil importers, and exporters to assess crop conditions and make informed decisions related to trade.

8. India’s Horticulture Gains Mask Deep Structural Gaps That Keep Food Prices Volatile

Rural Voice, 26 Nov. 2025, R. Suryamurthy

The third advance estimates show the supply side is improving; the question now is whether policymakers will use this window to fix the market mechanics that have historically undone supply gains

The government’s Third Advance Estimates for 2024–25 present a mixed ledger: horticulture area is forecast to rise to 29.488 million hectares (from 29.086 million ha a year earlier) and total production to 369.055 million tonnes, up about 14.31 million tonnes from 2023–24. Fruits are expected at 118.76 million tonnes (up 5.12%), vegetables 215.684 million tonnes (up 4.09%), onions 30.789 million tonnes (up 26.9%), potatoes 58.108 million tonnes (up 1.85%), spices 12.503 million tonnes, and aromatic & medicinal plants 0.781 million tonnes.

Those headline gains are welcome — but they must not lull policymakers or markets into complacency. History shows that higher aggregate output alone does not buy price stability for Indian consumers. Without rapid fixes to chronic structural problems, bumper figures can coexist with sharp retail spikes and household pain. The estimates should therefore mark the start of an urgent, coordinated policy push — not the end of one.

Why the figures are not enough

Post-harvest losses and cold chain gaps. A large share of fruits and vegetables never reaches consumers in usable form because of inadequate cold storage, packaging and transport. Until losses fall materially, additional tonnes will simply widen wastage rather than cut retail prices.

Regional concentration and timing of arrivals. Production is spatially concentrated and seasonally bunched — a local shock or a compressed arrival window can create sudden scarcity in major consuming centres.

Market frictions and information asymmetry. Fragmented markets, weak aggregation by farmers (small holdings), and opaque trade practices make it hard to translate farm-gate surpluses into stable retail supplies.

Policy reflexes that amplify volatility. Ad-hoc export curbs, panic procurement and crude taxes have in past cycles magnified price swings instead of smoothing them.

What needs to be done — immediate, medium and structural steps

Below are targeted, practical measures keyed to the estimates and aimed at converting production gains into durable price stability and higher farmer incomes.

Immediate (0–6 months)

Real-time arrival monitoring and market signalling. Scale up daily arrival reporting for onions, tomatoes and potatoes across key mandis and publish centralised dashboards to help buyers, processors and state procurement agencies act early. Impact: reduces panic buying and enables timely interventions.

Targeted temporary storage subsidies. Offer short-term viability support (e.g., subsidised electricity, transport vouchers) to convert surplus onion and tomato arrivals into stored stocks rather than forced distress sales. Impact: prevents immediate price collapses at farm-gate and moderates retail volatility.

Calibrated trade measures. If exports threaten domestic availability in deficit zones, use narrowly targeted, time-bound measures (e.g., export permits based on minimum domestic arrival thresholds) rather than blanket bans that spook markets.

Medium term (6–24 months)

Rapid expansion of cold chain beyond potatoes. Prioritise financing and plug-and-play cold hubs near production clusters for onions, tomatoes, mangoes and berries. Use viability gap funding and PPP models to diversify storage beyond current potato-centric capacity. Target: halve perishability rates for targeted crops within two seasons.

Boost processing and value-addition capacity. Invest in communal processing units (blanching, freezing, dehydration, canning) in high-yield districts so that surplus can be monetised rather than wasted. Incentivise private players with tax breaks and output-linked grants. Impact: creates demand floor and reduces seasonality in prices.

Strengthen Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs). Fast-track credit lines, aggregation grants and digital market linkages for FPOs to buy in bulk and negotiate better market terms — lowering transaction costs and dampening price swings.

Structural reforms (2–5 years)

Modernise market infrastructure and regulation. Accelerate reforms in physical and digital mandis (linkage to e-NAM, payment settlement timelines, grading and standardisation) and encourage private full-stack marketplaces that reduce middlemen friction.

Reduce post-harvest loss target from ~30% to <10%. Set a national target with state-level action plans: cold chains, improved packaging, rural roads, and training. Link budgetary support to measurable loss reduction.

Climate-resilient and storage-friendly crop research. Fund breeding for shelf-stable varieties, staggered maturity traits and region specific cultivars that reduce simultaneous arrivals.

De-risk value chains through insurance and forward contracts. Expand crop-insurance coverage tailored for perishable crops (index-plus claims tied to arrivals) and promote regulated futures/forwards contracts for onions and other key perishables with safeguards for smallholders.

Strategic price stabilisation and buffer mechanisms. Replace blunt procurement with nimble buffer mechanisms that combine small public buffers, incentivised private storage and an emergency price-stabilisation fund to intervene in genuine shortages without distorting markets permanently.

Governance and financing: how to pay for it

Reallocate a portion of existing agriculture budgets toward cold-chain capex and processing subsidies — these are investments, not recurring handouts.

Leverage multilateral and domestic green/climate finance for climate-proof storage and decentralised solar cold chains.

Use outcome-linked grants tied to loss-reduction and farmer income gains to ensure money buys results.

Political economy and consumer impact

Failure to act is costly. Food prices are politically explosive and disproportionately hurt the poor. The third advance estimates show the supply side is improving; the question now is whether policymakers will use this window to fix the market mechanics that have historically undone supply gains. If they do, households could see steadier vegetable and fruit prices and farmers could capture more value. If not, India will again witness the familiar spectacle of bumper harvests on paper and empty kitchen wallets in practice.

Bottom line

The 2024–25 horticulture estimates are a useful starting point. But higher tonnes are only meaningful when paired with smarter storage, faster processing, better aggregation, and markets designed to absorb — not amplify — shocks. Translate the numbers into systems change now, and the yield gains can finally lower prices and raise rural incomes. Delay, and the next inflation cycle will prove those tonnes were only statistical comfort.

9. Livestock Sector Reports Robust Growth; Jump in Milk, Meat and Egg Production

Rural Voice, 27 Nov. 2025, Ajeet Singh

According to the Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics (BAHS) 2025, India continues to lead the world in milk production while ranking second in egg production and fourth in meat output.

The recently released Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics (BAHS) 2025 by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying underlines strong across-the-board growth in India’s livestock output, reinforcing the sector’s expanding role in the rural economy.

India continues to maintain its global leadership in milk production and ranks second in egg production and fourth in meat output. This rapid growth has enabled livestock sector to become a dominant pillar of agricultural income, contributing 31% to the total Agricultural GVA in 2023-24.

The annual publication was released by Prof. S.P. Singh Baghel, Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, in the presence of Minister of State George Kurian and Naresh Pal Gangwar, Secretary of the Department on the occasion of National Milk Day.

Milk Production: India Retains Global Leadership

India remains the world’s largest milk producer, with output touching 247.87 million tonnes in 2024-25, up from 239.30 million tonnes in 2023-24—a growth of 3.58%.

Per capita milk availability rose to 485 grams/day in 2024-25, up from 319 grams/day in 2014-15, reflecting sustained improvement in dairy access.

The top five milk-producing states contributed over half of the country’s output:

Uttar Pradesh – 15.66%

Rajasthan – 14.82%

Madhya Pradesh – 9.12%

Gujarat – 7.78%

Maharashtra – 6.71%

Milk production from exotic/crossbred cattle increased 4.97%, indigenous cattle by 3.51%, and buffaloes by 2.45% over the previous year.

Egg Production: Strong Growth

The total Egg production in the country is estimated as 149.11 billion during 2024-25 and registered a growth of 4.44 % the production has increased annually by 3.18% during 2023-24. Per capita egg availability has steadily climbed from 62 eggs per year in 2014-15 to 106 eggs per year in 2024-25.

The poultry-dominant states accounted for a major share of production:

Andhra Pradesh – 18.37%

Tamil Nadu – 15.63%

Telangana – 12.98%

West Bengal – 10.72%

Karnataka – 6.67%

Out of the total eggs produced, commercial poultry contributed 125.98 billion eggs, accounting for 84.49% of the national output. Backyard poultry, on the other hand, produced 23.13 billion eggs, representing 15.51% of the total production.

Meat Production: India Ranks Fourth Globally

Total meat production in 2024-25 is estimated at 10.50 million tonnes, showing a modest growth of 2.46% over 2023-24. The meat production from poultry is 5.18 million tonnes, contributing about half of total meat production. The meat production has increased by 2.46% as compared to previous year (2023-24).

Top meat-producing states include:

West Bengal – 12.46%

Uttar Pradesh – 12.20%

Maharashtra – 11.57%

Andhra Pradesh – 10.84%

Telangana – 10.49%

Together, these states contribute 57.55% of national meat production.

Wool Production: Moderate Recovery Seen

India’s wool output stood at 34.57 million kg in 2024-25, recording a 2.63% increase over the previous year. Rajasthan continues to dominate the wool sector with 47.85% of national production, followed by:

Jammu & Kashmir – 22.88%

Gujarat – 6.22%

Maharashtra – 4.75%

Himachal Pradesh – 4.30%

These five states collectively account for 85.98% of India’s wool output.

Livestock Sector Shows Strong Economic Contribution

The livestock sector accounts for 5.5% of the national GVA at current prices, acting as a crucial buffer during economic fluctuations. The sector has also seen a steady rise in exports, with the total value of livestock products reaching Rs 66,249 crore in 2024–25, driven largely by the strong performance of the meat industry.

The importance of livestock is further reflected in its role within the overall agricultural economy. Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing contributed 17.8% to the national GVA in 2023–24, with livestock forming a significant share of this value and supplying nearly one-third of the output from agriculture and allied activities.

Over the last decade, the Indian livestock sector has shown remarkable growth. Its Gross Value Added (GVA) increased by nearly 195% between 2014–15 and 2023–24, far outpacing the growth of the crop sector.

Strengthening Data for Policy and Growth

Releasing the report, Minister Baghel highlighted that reliable data is the backbone of policy reforms aimed at improving farmer income, productivity and sustainability in the livestock sector. Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics (BAHS) 2025, is an important publication document that provides comprehensive data on the livestock and dairy sector trends. The BAHS 2025 is based on the outcomes of the Integrated Sample Survey conducted for the period from 1st March 2024 to 29th February 2025. This survey generates crucial data on the production estimates of Major Livestock Products (MLPs) such as Milk, Eggs, Meat, and Wool, which plays a pivotal role in research and policy formulation in the livestock sector.

10. Nourishing India: The Transformative Power of Food Processing for Health and Growth

ET Gov. 6 Dec. 2025

India’s food processing sector should not be viewed through a lens of fear or stigma, but as a powerful enabler of nutrition security, rural livelihoods, and economic resilience.

India consumes far less processed food than countries like Japan, South Korea, or Europe, yet the public backlash against it is far more intense. At the same time, India’s food processing sector is being hailed as a sunrise industry. This paradox sits at the heart of the debate: how do we reconcile health concerns with the sector’s immense potential for jobs, food and nutritional security, and economic growth?

India’s food processing sector presents a compelling opportunity. It is central to economic growth, rural prosperity, and national food security. Yet, processed and ultra-processed foods are frequently criticized for contributing to the rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). To harness the full potential of this sector, we must move beyond simplistic narratives, separating myth from fact, and focus on responsible innovation and informed consumption.

A Sector That Feeds More Than Just Markets

The food processing sector has already demonstrated its transformative power. It generates millions of jobs across the farm-to-fork value chain, increases farmers’ incomes through value addition, and helps reduce post-harvest losses, estimated to cost the country thousands of crores annually. For consumers, food processing ensures access to safer, longer-lasting, and often fortified foods. For the broader economy, it fuels exports, attracts investments, and fosters entrepreneurship, making it a vital pillar of inclusive and sustainable development.

Despite these benefits, processed foods, particularly ultra-processed varieties, often face criticism for their perceived link to health issues like obesity and diabetes. While such concerns are not entirely misplaced, they tend to overlook the diversity and evolution within the processed food category. Many modern processed products are fortified with essential nutrients, manufactured under strict regulatory oversight, and tailored to the needs of fast-paced urban lifestyles. The real issue lies not in processing itself, but in consumption patterns, what we eat, how much, and how often.

Concerns That Deserve Context, Not Condemnation

Several common concerns surrounding processed foods merit closer examination:

First, concerns about the link between processed foods and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), particularly due to high levels of salt, sugar, and fat, are valid but require context. The health impact stems more from dietary imbalance and overconsumption than from processing alone.

In response, many companies are reformulating products to reduce unhealthy ingredients, and front-of-pack labelling norms are being strengthened to help consumers make more informed choices. Government-led efforts such as the “Eat Right India” movement are also nudging both the industry and the public toward healthier food practices through better regulation and awareness.

Second, the fear of preservatives and food additives. Often misunderstood, these substances play a crucial role in preserving food quality and extending shelf life, particularly in a country like India with limited cold-chain infrastructure. All additives permitted by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) are rigorously evaluated and benchmarked against international safety standards, including those set by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA).

They are approved within strict limits for specific food categories and are subject to ongoing scientific review. Rather than being feared, well-regulated additives should be seen as essential tools for maintaining food safety and reducing spoilage.

Third, the idea that packaged foods are replacing traditional Indian diets. While urban food habits are indeed evolving, packaged and traditional foods can coexist. In fact, many traditional Indian staples such as pickles, papads, laddoos, and pulses, are now produced and packaged more hygienically, ensuring safer consumption while preserving culinary heritage.

Moreover, India’s per capita consumption of processed food remains significantly lower than that in countries like Japan, South Korea, and much of Europe. Yet, paradoxically, public criticism of processed foods is far more vocal here. What sets those countries apart is not the absence of processed foods but the presence of better consumer awareness.

There, people prioritize nutritional quality, whether processed or fresh, exercise portion control, and maintain balanced diets. In India, the public discourse often focuses solely on the “processed” label, rather than the broader context of eating habits and lifestyle. A focus on food and nutrition education is the key.

Driving the Next Leap: Innovation in Processing and Packaging

Recent technological advances are further reshaping the food processing sector. Non-thermal methods such as high-pressure processing and cold plasma sanitization help retain nutritional value while ensuring food safety. AI-powered systems are being deployed for automated quality checks, ensuring greater consistency and reducing waste.

In packaging, the future is equally promising. Intelligent packaging technologies with embedded sensors, QR codes, and freshness indicators, enable real-time monitoring of food quality. Sustainable alternatives to plastic, such as biodegradable materials derived from seaweed, mushrooms, and chitin, are becoming increasingly viable. Looking ahead, smart packaging capable of sensing spoilage and releasing preservatives only when necessary could revolutionize food safety and significantly reduce food waste.

Reframing the Conversation Around Processed Food

India’s food processing sector should not be viewed through a lens of fear or stigma, but as a powerful enabler of nutrition security, rural livelihoods, and economic resilience. Rather than rejecting processed foods wholesale, the focus must shift to encouraging smarter, safer, and more sustainable practices supported by sound regulation, transparent labelling, and active consumer education beginning with schools.

It’s time we shifted the debate from fear to facts, and from rejection to reform, so that the food processing sector can fulfil its promise: to nourish not just India’s economy, but its people.

(The author is CEO, Food Future Foundation and former CEO, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India; Views expressed are personal)

- Industry and Manufacture

11. ADB Okays $650 million Rooftop Solar Loan

ET, 3 Dec. 2025

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $650 million policy-based loan to support rooftop solar adoption in India and expand access to clean, affordable energy for 10 million households by 2027.

The financing under a subprogram of the Accelerating Affordable and Inclusive Rooftop Solar Systems Development Program will support the government’s PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana (PMSGMBY) that aims to make rooftop solar systems widely accessible.

“The program is accelerating India’s clean energy transition by removing long-standing barriers to rooftop solar adoption, including financing constraints and regulatory gaps,” ADB country director for India, Mio Oka, said.

12. Maruti Plans to Set Up 1 Lakh EV Chargers to Power e-Vitara Launch

ET, 3 Dec. 2025

Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest carmaker, plans to install 100,000 electric vehicle charging points over the next five years as part of efforts to ease range anxiety among drivers and attain leadership position in the segment.

The automaker has chalked out a two-pronged strategy to ensure ease of ownership - the e-Vitara will have a range of up to 543 km and will initially have access to more than 2,000 charging points Maruti Suzuki has set up at its dealerships across 1,100 cities. This includes the top 100 cities with high EV penetration.

“As we step into the electric mobility domain, we aim to enter with full readiness in terms of the product and the ecosystem,” said Hisashi Takeuchi, managing director, Maruti Suzuki, on the sidelines of the vehicle's unveiling on Tuesday.

“So, today, we bring a complete, end-to-end solution that addresses charging concerns and inspires confidence,” Takeuchi said, adding that Maruti has also partnered with 13 leading charge point operators and aggregators to have a wider public charging infrastructure.

Customers can access the charging points through the company’s ‘e for me’ app. Maruti has invested about ₹250 crore towards creating the charging infrastructure across its dealer network and creating the app.

To bolster its after-sales service, Maruti has made more than 1,500 workshops EV-ready across the country. In addition, customers can avail doorstep service through customised Service on Wheels - 500 of these have been readied for EV support.

Aligning with parent Suzuki Motor Corporation’s vision, Takeuchi said Maruti will be introducing more EVs across body types and segments in the coming years.

“In line with this vision, by 2030, our aim is to establish a network of over 100,000 charging points in partnership with our dealers and charge point operators,” he said.

13. Digital Transformation of Indian MSMEs: Insights from Recent Report and AI Advancements

ET Gov. 4 Dec. 2025

Drawing insights from 7,835 enterprises, the report is one of the most robust national assessments of digital adoption among Indian MSMEs.

New Delhi, December 2: India’s micro, small and medium enterprises—long regarded as the backbone of the nation’s economic engine—are undergoing a profound technological shift.

That transformation came into sharp focus today in New Delhi, where the India SME Forum unveiled its flagship report, “The State of Digitalisation in Indian MSMEs: A Study on the Evolving Digital Landscape of MSMEs in India.”

Released in the presence of Mercy Epao, Joint Secretary (SME), Ministry of MSME; Ateesh Kumar Singh, Joint Secretary (AFI), Ministry of MSME; and Kartikey Sinha, Director, Planning & Marketing, NSIC, the report marks a major milestone in India’s accelerating march toward a digitally empowered entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The moment was equally momentous for the Digishaastra Initiative—launched in December 2024 in partnership with the Ministry of MSME—which, within a single year, has trained an extraordinary 4.76 lakh entrepreneurs across the country, placing it among India’s most impactful digital-capacity missions for business owners.

A Study Grounded in Scale, Diversity and Authenticity

Drawing insights from 7,835 enterprises, the report is one of the most robust national assessments of digital adoption among Indian MSMEs. Its sample spans micro to medium-sized enterprises, diverse linguistic regions, and multiple industry clusters—capturing the digital pulse of India’s most entrepreneurial communities with methodological precision.

The findings reveal a sector in rapid transition. 53.8% of MSMEs surveyed now use at least one digital tool—an impressive leap that nonetheless highlights the untapped potential of the remaining 46.2%, who continue to operate fully offline.

Among those who have digitised operations, the impact is unmistakable:

41.4% reported a 21–30% increase in sales

69% recorded at least a 10% expansion in customer base

Email emerged as the most widely adopted tool, used by 95.4% of digitised firms, followed closely by CRM platforms (71.8%) and e-commerce solutions (70.4%). Interestingly, micro enterprises—employing 1–9 people—formed 59.1% of survey respondents and were also the frontrunners of digital adoption. The demographic profile of MSME owners, with over 91% aged between 45 and 54, challenges stereotypes around digital hesitancy among mid-career entrepreneurs.

The Digital Divide: Challenges That Demand Urgent Attention

Despite steady progress, the study highlights urgent systemic gaps. More than 52.6% of MSMEs struggle to identify the right digital tools, pointing to a need for structured training, customised handholding, and advisory pathways.

Even more concerning is the finding that 97.3% remain unaware of existing government schemes designed to support digitalisation—revealing a persistent disconnect between policy creation and last-mile access.

The India SME Forum emphasised that while digitalisation is now a decisive driver of MSME competitiveness, significant barriers in skills, infrastructure, credit access, and cybersecurity continue to impede widespread digital transformation.

Strengthening the digital backbone of these enterprises, the Forum stressed, will be essential to India’s broader economic ambitions.

Digishaastra: One Year, A Million Possibilities

Launched with the ambitious goal of digitally enabling one million MSMEs, Digishaastra has already surpassed expectations, training nearly half a million entrepreneurs in its first year alone. The initiative offers foundational digital skills, market-facing capabilities, and technology training that enable enterprises to reduce costs, improve operational efficiency, and create sustainable employment.

But as the report makes clear, the need is vast, and expansion of the programme will be crucial to bridging India’s digital divide—especially among micro and rural enterprises.

A New AI Milestone: WhatsApp Partners with the Ministry of MSME

In a major announcement that signals the next chapter in India’s digital entrepreneurship story, Ms. Victoria Grand, Vice President, Global Business Operations, Policy and External Affairs at WhatsApp Inc., revealed a new collaboration with the Ministry of MSME, NSIC and the India SME Forum.

A Letter of Intent (LOI) was signed at the event to develop an AI-powered WhatsApp chatbot—a national digital guide for MSMEs. This AI tool will provide real-time, personalised support to MSMEs seeking help with:

government schemes and compliance

credit access

skilling and entrepreneurship training

digital onboarding

market linkages and operational support

Aligned with the Government of India’s Digital India vision, the chatbot aims to drastically simplify the digital journey for millions of enterprises.

Voices from the Leadership: A Vision for a Smarter, More Inclusive MSME Sector

Mercy Epao, Joint Secretary (SME), Ministry of MSME, described the Digishaastra journey as a testament to India’s entrepreneurial aspirations: “Today’s gathering reflects the remarkable energy of India’s MSME community. Our Ministry is committed to ensuring that every MSME—across our 7.2 crore ecosystem—has the digital tools to grow, compete globally and contribute to India’s economic progress.”

Ateesh Kumar Singh, Joint Secretary (AFI), Ministry of MSME, emphasised the need for simplification and accessibility: “The question today is no longer why MSMEs should digitise, but how to make that journey simple and meaningful. As we build the next generation of digital infrastructure—from GST 2.0 to AI-driven services—we must turn technology into real impact for India’s businesses.”

Arun Srinivas, Managing Director & Country Head, Meta (India), reflected on the success of public-private partnerships: “When guidance meets innovation, MSMEs can scale and even access global markets. With the AI-powered MSME chatbot, support becomes accessible, real-time, and transformational.”

Victoria Grand, Vice President, Global Business Operations, Policy & External Affairs, WhatsApp Inc., underlined the transformative power of digital tools for small businesses: “With the right digital tools, small businesses can supercharge India’s digital economy. Our collaboration reflects our commitment to making inclusive AI tools accessible to every entrepreneur.”

Towards a Digitally Confident India

The launch of this landmark report, coupled with the Digishaastra Initiative’s extraordinary first-year impact and the newly announced AI-powered WhatsApp chatbot, signals a decisive shift in India’s MSME landscape. Digitalisation is no longer an aspiration—it is a strategic imperative, a source of resilience, and a gateway to national competitiveness.

What emerges from today’s event is a clear message: India’s MSMEs are ready for the future. With the right support, they will not only adapt to the digital economy but help shape it—driving growth, employment, and innovation in the years ahead.

14. Suzlon Unveils Plan for 3 New AI-enabled Smart Blade Units

ET, 5 Dec. 2015

Suzlon Energy, India’s largest wind turbine manufacturer, will commission three new AI-enabled smart blade factories to digitally upgrade its nationwide manufacturing footprint, the company said on Thursday.

The move will take Suzlon’s total number of facilities to 20, marking one of the company’s most ambitious expansion phases in decades. Two factories will come up in Gujarat and Karnataka, both key wind corridors, while the third location will be finalised shortly.

The new units are designed to accelerate execution of Suzlon’s 6.2 gigawatt order book, reduce the movement time for large turbine components, and move manufacturing closer to upcoming wind project clusters.

The company said the factories will integrate automation, robotics, digital workflow systems, and advanced monitoring tools to raise blade quality, improve productivity, and enhance safety. Suzlon’s existing 15 plants will also be upgraded under a multi-year smart factory programme aimed at modernising the full value chain. Group CEO J P Chalasani said the company earmarks about ₹550 crore annually for capital expenditure, part of which will fund the new factories. Suzlon currently services nearly one-third of India’s operational 50-gigawatt fleet, giving it one of the deepest maintenance networks in the industry.

Tapping this experience, vice chairman Girish Tanti said the company is strengthening three strategic engines: technology and manufacturing, project development and execution, and long-term services, including repowering.

The company’s S144 turbine platform remains central to its product strategy, with a commitment to high domestic content and a supply ecosystem of over 1,500 sub-vendors. Tanti said the company’s design philosophy prioritises cost efficiency, low carbon footprint and Make in India capabilities.

Project execution, historically a sector bottleneck, is another focus area. Suzlon is urging customers to finalise sites two years ahead of construction, a shift that could help the industry move from six gigawatts of annual installations to double-digit growth.

On the services side, the company sees large opportunities in extending turbine life by three to seven years and fully repowering older sites to double power generation.

Even as interest re-emerges from overseas markets, Tanti said India will remain its core focus given the scale of domestic opportunity. “The next five years will determine whether India can convert wind into a true mainstream energy source and whether Suzlon can anchor that transition.”

Tanti added Suzlon is preparing for selective reentry into international markets where legacy customers seek repowering solutions. The company will also follow a disciplined balance sheet approach, aiming to remain a low-debt enterprise even as it supports aggressive capacity additions.

15. India's Solar Revolution: Bridging the Manufacturing Gap in Renewable Energy

ET Gov. 8 Dec. 2025

India has already illuminated the world with its solar rise. The next chapter is about ensuring that this radiance is powered by its own hands, its own factories, and its own vision.

The last decade has reshaped India’s energy imagination. From a country that once relied overwhelmingly on coal, India has become one of the world’s largest solar producers, transforming sunlight into strategy and ambition into infrastructure.

The rise of solar energy is no longer a marginal subplot in India’s developmental narrative; it is central to the nation’s aspirations for sustainability, sovereignty, and global leadership.

Yet this dramatic success also reveals a fragile undercurrent: India remains heavily dependent on imported solar equipment, particularly from China, and must now confront the challenge of building a resilient domestic manufacturing ecosystem.

The Rise of a Solar Powerhouse

India’s solar capacity has surged to nearly 130 gigawatts in 2025—a monumental leap from just a few gigawatts a decade ago. This is one of the fastest expansions of renewable capacity in the world and a defining feature of India’s clean-energy transition. The Panchamrit commitments announced at COP26 created a national framework for this transformation, with targets such as achieving 500 gigawatts of non-fossil capacity by 2030 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2070.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi captured this ambition clearly when he stated at an international solar gathering in 2024: “This speed and scale will also help India achieve 500 Giga Watt non-fossil capacity by 2030.” He emphasised that India’s solar growth depends on “awareness, availability and affordability,” marking a shift toward a people-centric renewable-energy ecosystem designed to reach every home, farm, and community.

These commitments have reshaped the country’s energy architecture. Solar parks have spread across 13 states, rooftop installations have reached millions of households, and programmes such as PM-KUSUM have enabled farmers to become both energy consumers and energy producers. What was once an experiment is now a national infrastructure.

President Droupadi Murmu articulated the deeper philosophy behind this transformation during the 2025 Assembly of the International Solar Alliance, remarking that solar energy represents “empowerment and inclusive development.” Her statement reflects the social mandate of India’s solar journey: sunlight must uplift, not merely illuminate.

India’s Solar Diplomacy and Global Leadership

India’s domestic solar expansion has been matched by its assertive solar diplomacy. As the founding member and host of the International Solar Alliance, India has emerged as a leading voice for equitable access to clean energy. More than 125 countries participate in ISA deliberations, many of whom look to India for guidance on technology, finance, and policy design.

Prime Minister Modi has consistently championed a global approach to renewable energy. At the Glasgow climate summit, he noted: “In one hour, the earth’s atmosphere receives enough sunlight to power the electricity needed by every human being on earth for a year.” This powerful observation underscores the abundance of solar energy and the necessity of global cooperation to harness it.

India’s most ambitious diplomatic proposal, One Sun, One World, One Grid (OSOWOG), aims to interconnect renewable-energy grids across continents. If implemented, OSOWOG would fundamentally alter global energy flows, creating a transnational solar network where sunlight from one region could light up another thousands of miles away.

Such initiatives have elevated India’s position in global clean-energy governance. The ISA now speaks of itself as an international “solar family,” a phrase used by India’s leadership in 2025 to describe the diversity of nations—large and small, rich and developing—that are now part of a shared solar future.

The Manufacturing Paradox: Strength in Deployment, Weakness in Production

Yet beneath India’s solar triumph lies a critical vulnerability: a majority of the solar modules, wafers, cells, and inverters used in Indian installations are imported. China dominates the global solar supply chain across every major segment, from polysilicon to high-efficiency cell technologies. While India leads in solar deployment, it lags sharply in domestic manufacturing.

India has launched significant efforts to address this imbalance. The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for solar photovoltaic modules aims to create a gigawatt-scale industry capable of supporting national and global demand. But even as the scheme attracts investment, the upstream ecosystem—polysilicon refineries, wafer fabrication units, and advanced cell manufacturing—remains at an embryonic stage.

Prime Minister Modi’s repeated emphasis on availability and affordability reveals an implicit recognition of this challenge. Solar deployment must be built on a foundation of self-reliance. In a world marked by geopolitical tension and supply-chain disruption, dependence on imported hardware is a strategic vulnerability.

At the 2025 ISA Assembly, Indian leadership affirmed that the global solar transition should be “inclusive” and “resilient,” two words that carry layered significance for India’s own industrial policy. An inclusive transition demands widespread access to solar power; a resilient transition demands domestic manufacturing strength.

Why Manufacturing Matters: The Strategic and Geopolitical Imperative

Solar energy is not just a technological asset; it is a geopolitical lever. The nation that controls solar manufacturing controls the pace and price of global energy transition. Silicon, wafers, cells, and inverters form the industrial backbone of the 21st century just as coal and oil defined the previous two.

Without domestic manufacturing capacity, India risks replacing one form of energy dependence with another. Instead of relying on imported fossil fuels, it may become dependent on imported photovoltaics. The challenge is not simply economic—it is strategic. Energy sovereignty in the age of climate change depends on industrial sovereignty.

This connection between energy and strategy has been repeatedly emphasised by Indian policymakers. The message is clear: India cannot afford to lead globally in solar deployment while lagging domestically in solar manufacturing.

Completing the Solar Revolution: The Road Ahead

India’s solar journey is incomplete without a robust manufacturing ecosystem. The next phase of India’s solar strategy must therefore focus on upstream integration. Domestic polysilicon production, wafer fabrication, and high-efficiency cell technologies such as TOPCon and future perovskite innovations must become national priorities. Long-term finance, strategic R&D partnerships, and supply-chain diversification will be critical.

At the same time, India must continue strengthening its global alliances. Through ISA, OSOWOG, and bilateral clean-energy agreements, India can position itself not just as a consumer or market, but as a global co-architect of the energy economy.

The goal is not merely to install more solar panels, but to build them. Not merely to adopt clean energy, but to shape its future. Not merely to shine under the sun, but to forge sovereignty through it.

Toward Solar Sovereignty

India’s solar revolution is one of the defining achievements of its modern development story. It has brought clean energy to millions, empowered farmers, reshaped rural landscapes, and elevated India’s standing in international climate diplomacy. The country has demonstrated that rapid, large-scale renewable deployment is possible in a developing economy—setting an example for the world.

But true leadership requires mastering not just deployment, but manufacturing; not just consumption, but production. India must now match its solar success with domestic capacity, technological innovation, and industrial resilience.

As Prime Minister Modi affirmed, India’s renewable-energy transition rests on awareness, availability, and affordability. To complete this vision, India’s solar journey must evolve from rapid expansion to self-reliant consolidation. The sun may shine equally on all nations, but only those that build, innovate, and manufacture will truly command their energy destiny.

India has already illuminated the world with its solar rise. The next chapter is about ensuring that this radiance is powered by its own hands, its own factories, and its own vision.

(Anoop Verma is Editor-News, ETGovernment; Views expressed are personal)

- Services (Education, Healthcare, IT, R&D, Tourism, etc.)

16. US CEO amazed by India's 10-minute delivery culture, says country is living

Hindustan Times, 2 Dec. 2025, Bhavya Sukheja

A US-based Indian-origin CEO says the biggest surprise during her recent three-week trip to India was not traffic, food or congestion, but the speed of the country’s quick-commerce ecosystem.

Taking to LinkedIn, Varuni Sarwal, the CEO of TriFetch, compared India’s 10-minute delivery culture with the United States, saying Amazon Prime’s two-day delivery “feels ancient” in comparison. According to her, while the US still believes it leads on innovation, India’s B2C logistics “is already living in 2030”.

·Sarwal added that she would miss this level of convenience once she returned to San Francisco. She also ended the post with a light-hearted note, pointing out that in their rush to prioritise speed, they accidentally ordered the wrong items. “If you zoom in on the photo, Rose is wearing a men’s kurta and I am wearing a men’s lungi. But hey, we made it work,” she wrote.

Social media reactions

The post has sparked a discussion about what makes India’s fast delivery systems work.

“To be honest, the B2C logistics is surviving because of the cheap labour and the harsh expectations the drivers and vendors are going through,” one user wrote.

“That 15 minutes delivery comes with a promise of no returns and a terrible customer service even in case of wrong/damaged product received. Dirt cheap labour to the tune where human life has no value is not B2C logistics innovation,” commented another.

17. Big Money Checks in as Kerala Emerges as Healthcare Hotspot

ET, 3 Dec. 2025

Private equity investors have taken a liking for Kerala's healthcare sector, pumping in more than $700 million in just over two years to acquire hospitals, clinics and medical devices makers that experts say will act as anchor assets for their broader South India expansion.

The state has recorded at least ten private equity-led deals in the sector since October 2023, with the list of investors comprising marquee names KKR and Blackstone, and local funds such as ICICI Venture and CX Partners. Kerala had seen negligible PE participation in the sector in the past, when states like Maharashtra, Telangana and Karnataka had recorded most of the M&A deals.

A number of factors work in favour of Kerala when PE investors look for healthcare assets, say experts. While some of the top private hospitals are operated by non-profit bodies, there are also many well-established facilities run by doctors and families who are willing to divest a majority stake. Also, people in the state have shown a strong preference for private hospitals that offer modern amenities for treatment despite higher expenses, offering opportunities for growth and visibility on return on investment.

The trend has more to do with health awareness among the state's population, said P Unneen, vice-chairman of KIMS Alshifa Hospital in Malappuram district.

KIMS Alshifa Hospital is controlled by Blackstone-owned KIMS Health Management.

Kerala's healthcare sector emerged as a key destination for PE investment starting late 2023, when Blackstone-owned Hyderabad-based hospital platform Quality Care invested nearly $300 million to acquire Thiruvananthapuram-based hospital chain KIMS Health Management. US-based TPG also joined the cap table with a $100 million investment in KIMS.

Meanwhile, KKR, after making a fivefold return from its Max Healthcare exit, acquired a 70% stake in North Kerala-based Baby Memorial Hospital (BMH) in July 2024. BMH has since taken over the 350-bed Chazhikattu Multi Speciality Hospital in Idukki district's Thodupuzha and Meitra Hospital in Kozhikode.

18. Adani Group plans $15 billion India airports expansion by 2030

ET Gov. 4 Dec. 2025

Adani Group will invest $15 billion to significantly expand its airport passenger capacity. The plan aims to handle 200 million passengers annually within five years.

The Adani Group plans to invest $15 billion to boost passenger capacity at its airports to 200 million annually in the next five years, people familiar with the matter said, helping power India’s aviation boom as it prepares to list its airport unit.

The plan involves adding terminals, taxiways, and a new runway at the Navi Mumbai airport, which is set to open Dec. 25, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the plans are private. Alongside, the group will undertake capacity upgrades at Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Lucknow and Guwahati airports, they said.

About 70 per cent of funding will come from debt raised over five years, with the rest in equity, the people said.

The expansion ties in with a projected increase in India’s air traffic, with passenger numbers expected to more than double to 300 million annually by 2030. By scaling up capacity to two-thirds of that number, Adani is positioning itself as a key facilitator of this growth, while strengthening its case for a planned initial share sale for its airports unit.

The expansion — to boost total passenger capacity by more than 60 per cent — excludes 20 million at Navi Mumbai and 11 million at Guwahati, opening this month, they said.

A representative for the Adani Group didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comments.

The upgrades focus on six airports leased during India’s second privatisation phase in 2020, previously managed by the state-run Airports Authority of India. India began privatising airports in 2006, with GMR Airports Ltd. and GVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd. acquiring New Delhi and Mumbai. Adani later bought GVK’s stake.

The government now plans to privatize 11 more airports, bundling loss-making facilities with profitable ones. Adani Airport Holdings Ltd., India’s largest operator by number of airports, and GMR Airports, the largest by passenger traffic, are expected to lead the bidding.

India is also building a second airport in Delhi to meet demand, while targeting 400 airports nationwide by 2047, from 160 now.

19. Eye Care Chain ASG Plans 500 New Centres by 2030

ET, 5 Dec. 2025

Super specialty eye care chain ASG Eye Hospital plans to invest Rs 1,500-2,000 crore to open an additional 400-500 centres across India by 2030, with a focus on tier II and III cities, a top company executive said on Thursday.

The company is also considering targeted acquisitions to fuel expansion, the official stated.

"Currently, we have around 200 centres across the country. We are planning to expand to another 400-500 centres across the country with a main focus on tier II and III cities where the availability of eye doctors is difficult.

"For this expansion, we are planning to invest Rs 1,500 crore to Rs 2,000 crore, which will be funded through internal accruals, private placement or from the capital market," ASG Eye Hospital Managing Director and CEO Arun Singhvi told reporters here.

Currently, the company's smaller towns and bigger cities exposure ratio is 30:70, which is likely to reverse in the next few years with the expansion, he added.

For this expansion, the company is also looking for targeted acquisitions, he said, adding that ASG plans to pursue 8 to 10 niche practice acquisitions annually, enabling the integration of strong regional clinical capabilities. So far, ASG Eye Hospital has made 25 acquisitions.

Further, Singhvi said that the company is expected to bring out an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the next 12-18 months.

"We are aiming to raise around Rs 1,000 crores from the capital market," he added.

The company, he said, will establish 5 to 7 new state of the art centres each year, with a focused push into the 100 districts (annually) where demand for quality eye care is rising rapidly and specialist access remains limited, Singhvi said.

"With over 80 per cent of vision loss in India being preventable, our expansion is a mission to end unnecessary blindness. We are taking world-class eye care out of the metropolitan hubs and into the heartland, where the need is more acute. Through Public-Private partnerships and pioneering Tele-ophthalmology, we are building the infrastructure necessary to make quality eye care a right, not a privilege, for every citizen," he said.

ASG Eye Hospital is expecting a revenue of Rs 1,500 crore in 2025-26, over 31 per cent growth from Rs 1,142 crore in FY25.

Talking about challenges, Singhvi said, keeping pace with high-quality treatment versus the high cost of treatment, which is due to imported lenses and machinery.

"As India does not manufacture lenses and machinery, 80 per cent of which are imported, the cost of treatment is growing. The government has reduced GST to relax the prices, however, rupee depreciation is keeping the cost high. Going forward, there is going to be a major challenge between aspiration, quality care and pricing as 90 per cent of the eye diseases are related to cataract and retina," he added.

20. Putin visit: How India can be the healthcare provider of the world

The Sunday Guardian, 7 Dec. 2025

India, Dec. 7 -- The India-Russia agreement on healthcare, medical education, and science, signed on December 5, 2025, during President Putin's visit to New Delhi, deepens institutional collaboration and facilitates the exchange of knowledge and personnel between the two nations. Among several key areas of collaboration, we will be advancing digital technologies in healthcare, including telemedicine, strengthening the regulation of medicines and medical devices, and sharing quality standards. This is a significant step towards making India not just the "Pharmacy of the World," but the healthcare provider of the world, through vaccines, drugs, medical disposables and equipment, telemedicine, telemonitoring, and health tourism. India has a robust national telemedicine service, and e-Sanjeevani has served millions of patients and offers a successful model for implementation, particularly in rural areas. Russia and other large nations like Canada and Australia can leverage this expertise and experience.

TELEMEDICINE IN OTHER LARGE NATIONS

The US has sophisticated infrastructure but faces challenges in setting up a national telemedicine network due to regulatory fragmentation, overemphasis on strict privacy (HIPAA), and detailed insurance reimbursement. Most of the telemedicine services are managed by multiple, for-profit private companies like Teladoc Health, American Well, Philips Healthcare, MDLive, and Epic Systems Corp. China accelerated telemedicine adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic to address significant urban-rural healthcare disparities. It provides extensive specialist services via 5G-enabled platforms and hospitals, but significant internal disparities in access persist. Chinese national e-healthcare rules of 2018 facilitate large-scale commercial platforms.

The National Health Service of the United Kingdom rapidly expanded telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic, with support from major telecommunication companies to facilitate remote primary care and chronic disease reviews. "Rute" is the Brazilian telemedicine university network connecting 124 universities and teaching hospitals, facilitating peer-to-peer consultations across a wide region. Russia's national digital health strategy for diagnosis and treatment is limited in its coverage of this vast nation.

While all nations use telemedicine for primary and specialty care, some have unique focus areas, like Japan uses it to manage its aging population, and Brazil uses it for inter-hospital networking. The "clinician-to-clinician" segment is currently the largest in terms of revenue in most nations, but the "clinician-to-patient" segment is the fastest growing, driven by increased patient acceptance and the push for home healthcare. In contrast to all these nations, India has a unified national guideline that provides legal protection for practitioners and is integrated with national health missions, thus avoiding the spread of funding over similar parallel projects.

India and the World

21. India China Trade: India's exports to China climb for 7 straight months in FY26, help New Delhi soften US tariff blow

ET Gov. 24 Nov. 2025

India's goods exports to China saw consistent monthly growth, peaking at 42% in October, helping to offset a significant decline in overall exports due to US tariffs.

India’s goods exports to China rose every month in the first seven months of this fiscal year, peaking with a 42 per cent rise in October, helping New Delhi partly soften the blow of steep US tariffs.

Outbound shipments to the northern neighbour climbed 24.7 per cent from a year earlier to $10.03 billion during April-October. Petroleum products, telecom instruments and marine goods led the strong performance. Total merchandise exports in the period, however, inched up by a marginal 0.63 per cent.

“This is one of the most resilient phases in bilateral trade in recent years, especially at a time when global demand remains uncertain and several major economies are facing contraction in their export sectors,” said an official.

China remained India’s top import destination, supplying $73.99 billion worth of goods during April-October. New Delhi’s trade deficit with Beijing stood at $64 billion during the period.

Petroleum Product Demand

Exports to China began with a 11 per cent on-year rise in April, accelerating to 28 per cent in July, and 33 per cent in September, the data showed. China was India’s fourth-largest export destination in April-October.

Robust shipments to China in October are an outlier compared to India’s overall export performance.

During the month, total exports contracted 11.8 per cent to $34.38 billion due to the impact of 50 per cent tariffs imposed by the US with effect from August 27.

It widened India's trade deficit to a record $41.68 billion amid higher gold imports.

While disaggregated data for October is unavailable, petroleum product exports to Beijing more than doubled to $1.48 billion during April–September, highlighting strong industrial fuel demand within China.

Telecom instruments emerged as another high-growth category, with exports surging more than threefold to $778.23 million, from $207.26 million a year earlier.

“India’s consistent month-on-month growth in exports to China through April–October signals a strengthening bilateral trade path,” the official said, adding that “the outlook for the rest of FY26 remains positive.”

Marine product exports to China increased to $659.27 million, from $548.36 million.>

22. Modi's Upcoming Oman Visit: Strengthening 70 Years of Diplomatic Relations

ET Gov. 10 Dec. 2025

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visit to Oman aims to strengthen bilateral ties, marking 70 years of diplomatic relations.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Oman next week on the occasion of 70 years of establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations is expected to boost ties with the West Asian country which is not only India’s oldest strategic partner in the oil-rich region but also among its key economic partners, said people with knowledge of the matter.

The trip comes almost two years after the current Oman Sultan’s first state visit to India.

The proposed comprehensive economic partnership agreement and bilateral investment between India and Oman will provide a stimulus to bilateral trade and investments, said the people.

Oman is India’s closest defence partner in West Asia and defence cooperation has emerged as a key pillar of the strategic partnership between the two countries. Oman is the first Gulf country with which all three wings of India’s defence forces have held joint exercises, said an official. The country has also allowed the Indian Navy access to the Duqm port in the Indian Ocean Region.

Indian-origin Omani citizens hold key positions in the country. Oman has also been a steady supporter of India’s position on terrorism, including at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Economic and commercial relations between India and Oman are robust and buoyant. Bilateral trade increased to $10.61 b in 2024-25 from $8.95 b in 2023-24, according to the fact sheet of the Indian Embassy in Muscat.

23. Africa’s Croesus Inspired by RIL to Beat Jamnagar Unit

ET, 5 Dec. 2015

A visit to Jamnagar may have inspired Alhaji Aliko Dangote to attempt the most audacious business decision of his career – a $20-billion oil refinery and petrochemical complex on 2,500 hectares of swampland outside Lagos, the largest single such facility of its kind in the world.

But it’s the evolution of Tata group and other business houses that serves as a model for the Nigerian billionaire, also the richest person on the African continent, influencing him to pivot his entrepreneurial journey to try and prove his country can do more than just barter and trade — it can also build and manufacture.

This has made him a folk hero at home, one who is turbocharging Nigeria’s industrial renaissance while weaning it away from an oil addiction.

But along the way, the Dangote cult has become contentious. For many, behind the avuncular persona, the outward humility and the friendly aspect, is a ruthless monopolist who uses favourable policies, tax breaks and state subsidies to crush competition and make windfall financial gains while gouging into the national exchequer and the public.

And now, the founder, president and chief executive of Nigeria’s largest conglomerate, Dangote Group, is polarising public opinion again.

In less than a year of processing crude for the first time, Dangote is plotting an even bolder second phase — a massive ramp-up of refining capacity to 1.4 million barrels a day (bpd), from the existing 650,000 bpd, to rival Reliance Industries’ Jamnagar refinery as the biggest in the world by throughput.

To help compete with the very facility that showed him the way in the first place, he’s seeking the help of several Indian companies — private, state-run or even local arms of global giants. These include Thermax, Engineers India, Honeywell UOP and ThyssenKrupp India, among others.

Dangote is tapping Indian companies for project management, equipment supplies, manpower, process engineering and construction. “There's a shortage of refinery capacity in Africa,” the 68-year-old industrialist told ET while spelling out his grand vision during a management retreat in India last week.

Planning an expansion when the existing facility is not yet at full throttle may seem like overreach, but Dangote sees it as indispensable to make his country — a member of oil-producing club Opec — self-sufficient in energy. For decades, Nigeria has exported all the crude it produces and has had to import refined products such as gasoline, diesel and benzene, giving rise to a cache of middlemen who have been exploiting a system that’s distorted by state subsidies.

“Nigeria produces nearly 2% of the world’s oil. How can it still be a net importer of petrol or diesel?” said Dangote. “When we started, Nigeria was not refining one barrel. But we are addressing all these issues now.”

By that he means shutting down the oil traders who have for long been dumping cheap refined products from overseas, of late principally Russia.

Crude oil feedstock has also helped the group go down the value chain by adding a million tonnes (mt) of propylene. The downstream complex also boasts a 3-mt granulated urea fertiliser plant. This produces more than what its farmers need.

“Dangote has single-handedly built the industrial foundation of modern Nigeria and successfully expanded across the continent,” said Ashish Bhandari, chief executive and managing director of Thermax, a company that has for years worked closely with the group.

Along with the refinery, the petrochemical output will also more than double in the next 18-24 months. “The expansion in refining and allied petrochemicals or fertilisers will keep our country and the entire continent’s demand in mind,” Dangote said.

By 2028, the group aims to be the largest urea producer in the world, with a fourfold jump in production both in Nigeria and neighbouring Ethiopia, home to its next big greenfield bet. That’s an incremental $4 billion of capex.

Dangote’s sharp ascent to the pinnacle in many ways follows the typical path of plutocrats in the emerging economies of Asia, Africa and Latin America, feeding off an emphasis on value-added manufacturing to boost the domestic economy.

Leveraging a shared dream of mass-scale import substitution, within 15 years of starting out as a bulk trader in sugar, salt, rice, wheat, textiles, pasta, cement, packaging materials, trucks, he realised that by building manufacturing from the ground up, he could gain control over a larger portion of what went into Dangote products, and thus a larger share of profits.

“Trading was a good start but didn’t really have much of a future. We had to industrialise and that is why we chose manufacturing instead of importing everything and draining foreign currency reserves,” said the bespectacled businessman. “If we create the foundation, then hopefully, foreign investments will follow. Nobody will do that for us but Africans.”

Along the way, as his influence and heft multiplied along with his wealth, favourable policies have helped undercut competition. Even during his formative years, Dangote Group held exclusive import rights in sugar, cement and rice, using this to carry out volume business and weaken rivals.

Today, as a diversified conglomerate, the group is closer than any of its local peers to market domination in sectors such as cement, food, oil and gas, mining, infrastructure, agriculture. Group net profit is expected to be $1.5 billion on $18 billion of revenue in 2025. Cement contributes a quarter of that topline—nine-month FY26 PAT is at $513 million—and is also the flagship of the three group companies listed on the local stock exchange. But refining will soon take over.

In his quest, he sees a similarity with the founders of leading Indian business groups.

“We're trying to do exactly what companies like Tatas did in India,” he said. “They also started with trading and now they build everything around the world.” To cement their relationship, he’s invited Noel Tata, chairman of Tata Trusts, to join the board of his holding company.

Yet many would argue that by consciously focusing on the provision of basic human needs — food, shelter and clothing—he’s cornered a disproportionate share of natural resources such as limestone or crude oil, characterising him as more rentier than visionary entrepreneur.

At times, it has even led to confrontations or regulatory scrutiny. His $650-million cement plant in Tanzania — the second-largest in his 10-country footprint of 52 mtpa in sub-Saharan Africa — faced the ire of the political leadership in 2017. In 2024, his corporate headquarters in Lagos was raided by the anti-corruption watchdog. His refinery has been interrupted by labour strife.

“He is very aggressive to protect his monopoly,” said Ikena Okonkwo, analyst, West Africa, at SBM Intelligence, a consulting firm. “Policies that were to facilitate local capacities have facilitated an individual. Nigerians pay more for cement, food or gasoline since trade barriers make cheaper imports impossible.”

He has done well for himself but at what cost, Okonkwo asked. “Nigerians pay more for cement, food or gasoline since trade barriers make cheaper imports impossible,” he said. “His plants are run by foreigners and not locals. They are still reliant on technology transfers from China, India. He is hardly investing in training locals or innovation.”

Dangote downplays these allegations. “There is monopoly only when you are blocking others from entering,” he said. “We want others to join.”

There is one area though in which pricing power has gone against him – the English Premier League. He’d wanted to buy Arsenal, his favourite team. “The Arabs and the Americans have spoiled the game by bidding billions. Now it’s impossible to buy,” he complained.

But that’s one of the few fields in which Dangote has found himself on the losing side.

24. India Has Lot of Potential in Agricultural Exports to Russia

RuralVoice, 6 Dec. 2025

While bilateral commerce is nearing $70bn, India’s exports remain stuck below $5bn and imports are overwhelmingly dominated by crude oil. In FY2025, India exported just $4.9bn worth of goods to Russia but imported $63.8bn, leaving a trade deficit of $58.9bn.

During President Vladimir Putin’s current visit to India, Moscow reiterated its ambition to lift bilateral trade to $100bn by 2030, with stronger purchases of Indian goods for correcting the imbalance. While bilateral commerce is nearing $70bn, India’s exports remain stuck below $5bn and imports are overwhelmingly dominated by crude oil. In FY2025, India exported just $4.9bn worth of goods to Russia but imported $63.8bn, leaving a trade deficit of $58.9bn. Crude oil accounted for $50.3bn of total imports, underscoring how bilateral trade has become an oil relationship rather than a broad trade partnership.

Identifying High Potential Products

Closing the trade gap will depend on identifying and scaling high-potential product lines where India is globally competitive but commercially absent in Russia. To identify where exports can realistically be scaled, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) has mapped product groups in which Russia is a large global importer and India is a major global exporter — but where India’s share of Russia’s import market remains below 5%. The analysis focuses on categories where Russia’s global imports exceed $500m and India’s global exports are also above $500m, isolating segments with both demand depth and export readiness. Since Russia no longer publishes comprehensive trade statistics, mirror import data for calendar year 2024 has been used from the World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS) database.

Products with Huge Export Potential

In 2024, Russia imported $202.6bn of goods globally but sourced just $4.84bn from India — giving New Delhi a modest 2.4% share of Russia’s import market.

The shortfall is visible first in food and agriculture, where Russia depends heavily on imports but India’s penetration remains thin. Russia imported $4.34bn worth of fruits and nuts, $1.62bn of oilseeds, $1.21bn of edible oils, $1.15bn of vegetables and roots, $889m of meat, and $518m of dairy and eggs. Yet India supplied only $38.8m of fruits, $79m of oilseeds, $38.6m of oils, $36m of vegetables, $36.5m of meat and just $7m of dairy. Even in products where India is a major global exporter — such as meat ($3.95bn worldwide), oilseeds ($2.17bn) and fruits ($1.67bn) — its share of Russia’s import basket is mostly below 5%.

Processed food reveals an even wider gap. Russia spent $689m on cereal, flour and starch preparations and another $1.15bn on processed fruit and vegetables. India sold a negligible $0.6m in cereal-based foods and $42.7m in processed produce, despite being a near $2bn global exporter in food preparations. In tobacco, Russia imported $966m, while India supplied $37.5m, a 3.9% share of a market where India exports $1.84bn globally.

India’s under-representation extends to fast-moving consumer products and chemicals. Russia imported $3.13bn of perfumery and essential oils and $1.07bn of soaps and detergents, but India exported only $21.8m and $29.1m, capturing well under 3% of either market despite being a $3.7bn global exporter in these categories combined. In inorganic chemicals, Russia imported over $5bn, while India exported just $219m, giving it a 4.3% market share.

Measures to promote exports

For trade with Russia to expand beyond oil purchases, India will need to rebuild the plumbing of commerce as much as the politics. With Russian banks largely shut out of SWIFT, payments remain the single biggest friction facing exporters, making deals slow, costly and uncertain. One way forward is a wider push on local-currency settlement, backed by credible clearing arrangements and greater involvement of Indian and Russian banks.

In the Soviet era, the two sides solved this problem through a fixed rupee–rouble system, under which trade was settled at a pre-agreed exchange rate rather than in dollars, shielding commerce from currency risk and hard-currency shortages. To revive exports, New Delhi and Moscow will need a modern equivalent—along with regular buyer–seller meets, trade missions and institutional support—to move trade from hydrocarbons to goods that actually fill Russian shelves and factories.

25. Global Cereal Output to Cross 3 Billion Tonnes for First Time, Stocks Reach Highest Levels in Decades: FAO

RuralVoice, Dec 7, 2025

Global cereal production is forecast to surpass 3 billion tonnes for the first time in 2025, driven by record wheat output in Argentina and higher estimates for coarse grains and rice, according to FAO. Rising utilization and record stockpiles are expected through 2026, while global cereal trade is projected to grow 3.3 percent amid stable prices and ample supplies.

Global cereal production is set to exceed 3 billion tonnes for the first time, driven by stronger-than-expected output of wheat, coarse grains and rice, according to the latest forecast by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The agency has revised its 2025 world cereal production estimate upward to 3,003 million tonnes, buoyed largely by improved wheat prospects in Argentina, the European Union and the United States.

Argentina is expected to achieve a record wheat harvest this year, supported by larger plantings and favourable weather. Wheat production estimates for the EU and the US have also been raised. Global coarse grain output too has increased marginally, mainly due to higher barley production. For rice, FAO upgraded Indonesia’s forecast as expanded cultivation is likely to boost offseason harvests. Improved crop prospects in Bangladesh and Japan further lifted global rice production projections for 2025-26 to a record 558.8 million tonnes.

Planting for the 2026 winter wheat crop is progressing across the northern hemisphere. In the United States, sowing is nearing completion though dryness has lowered crop conditions compared to last year. The European Union is witnessing mostly favourable sowing conditions, except for rainfall deficits in parts of Italy. Russia and Ukraine have reported improved soil conditions, raising expectations of a rebound in Ukraine’s wheat area despite remaining below pre-war levels. India and Pakistan are expected to expand wheat acreage in response to attractive prices and supportive policies.

In the southern hemisphere, planting of 2026 coarse grain crops is underway. Argentina is projected to rebound on the back of higher maize plantings supported by early-season rains. Brazil, driven by strong domestic and export demand, is likely to expand maize acreage further. South Africa expects a marginal increase in maize plantings, particularly for yellow maize, encouraged by favourable rainfall forecasts.

World cereal utilization in 2025-26 is projected to rise by 59.2 million tonnes, or 2.1 percent, led by increased demand for maize and rice. Abundant supplies and stable prices are expected to boost feed use of coarse grains, while feed-quality wheat may substitute for costlier non-cereal alternatives. Rice utilization is forecast to reach a record 552.8 million tonnes.

Global cereal stocks at the close of the 2026 season are estimated at 925.5 million tonnes, revised further upward this month. Wheat reserves are set to rise sharply in China and India, while coarse grain stocks are expected to build up in major exporters such as Brazil and the United States. Wheat stocks in Argentina and the US have been lifted following improved harvest expectations, while Brazil’s maize stocks have been adjusted upward after estimates for its segunda safra crop were raised. The stocks-to-use ratio for major exporters is projected to reach 22.3 percent, the highest since the early 1990s.

Rice stocks are forecast at 216.8 million tonnes at the end of 2025-26, bolstered mainly by higher carryover expectations for Indonesia. At this level, global rice inventories would surpass their opening levels by 2.8 percent, enough to cover 4.6 months of world consumption.

International trade in cereals in 2025-26 is forecast at 500.6 million tonnes, up 3.3 percent from the previous year. Wheat trade is expected to rebound due to renewed import demand from Pakistan, Türkiye and several Asian countries amid stable prices and comfortable global supplies. Coarse grain trade is also set to grow, with Brazil emerging as a key sorghum exporter. Wheat exports from Argentina have been revised upward, with neighbouring countries like Ecuador likely to absorb part of its record output.

Global rice trade in 2026 is projected at 61.2 million tonnes, nearly unchanged from last month’s estimate but 1.4 percent lower than 2025 expectations, largely because of reduced import requirements in several Asian markets.

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Wednesday, 17 December 2025

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NEWSLETTER, December 2025

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