Private investments Rs. 2.67 lakh crore

♦ Aaccording to an RBI article, Capital investment by the private sector is likely to rise 21.5 percent to Rs.2.67 lakh crore in 2025-26 aided by robust macroeconomic fundamentals, and a 100-bps policy rate cut.

♦ The article, titled Private Corporate Investment: Growth in 2024-25 and Outlook for 2025-26, said Indian companies entered the fiscal year with healthier balance sheets, stronger cash buffers, improved profitability, and better access to diversified funding sources despite global uncertainties.

♦ The article has been authored by Snigdha Yogindran, Sukti Khandekar, Rajesh B Kavediya and Aloke Ghosh, all from the RBI's Department of Statistics and Information Management.

Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement

♦ India and Australia have reaffirmed their commitment to further advance Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA).

♦ Both sides discussed this during the Eleventh Round of India-Australia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) negotiations, which concluded in New Delhi on 23 August 2025. 

♦ The six-day CECA negotiations were aimed at further advancing the shared objective of strengthening bilateral trade and economic partnership.

♦ Commerce and Industry Ministry said, India and Australia remain strongly aligned to the early conclusion of a mutually beneficial Comprehensive Economic Cooperation.

Domestic marine product exports

♦ India’s total fish production surging by 104 percent from 96 lakh tonnes in 2013-14 to 195 lakh tonnes in 2024-25, according to the latest data from the Department of Fisheries.

♦ This expansion, particularly in inland fisheries which grew by 142 percent to 147.37 lakh tonnes, underscores the country’s emergence as the world’s second-largest fish producer, contributing around 8 percent to global output.

♦ This growth reflects a shift towards sustainable, high-yield methods, bolstered by investments in hatcheries, pond systems, cold chains and market networks.

♦ The Union Budget for 2025-26 has allocated a record Rs 2,703.67 crore for the sector.

♦ The journey began with the Blue Revolution in 2015, aimed at enhancing productivity and infrastructure in marine and inland fisheries.

♦ However, gaps in post-harvest handling, traceability and fisher welfare persisted, leading to the launch of PMMSY in 2020.

♦ With a total outlay of Rs 20,050 crore over five years (extended to 2025-26), the scheme has approved projects worth Rs 21,274.16 crore as of July 22, 2025, including a central share of Rs 9,189.79 crore.

♦ So far, Rs 5,587.57 crore has been released, generating direct and indirect jobs in fishing, aquaculture, processing and marketing.

♦ Under PMMSY, the government has also greenlit the formation of 200 existing fisheries cooperatives into Fish Farmer Producer Organisations (FFPOs) and 195 new ones as of July 29, 2025.

♦ Infrastructure projects total Rs.17,210.46 crore, with Rs.6,761.80 crore from the Centre. 

Income-tax Act, 2025

♦ President Droupadi Murmu has given her assent to the Income-tax Act, 2025 on 22 August, which will replace the archaic Income Tax Act, 1961.

♦ The Income Tax Act, 2025, will come into effect from 2026 April 1. 

♦ The new Act will make tax laws simple and reduce wordage in the legislation, making it easy to understand.

♦ The new law removes redundant provisions and archaic language and reduces the number of Sections from 819 in the Income Tax Act of 1961 to 536 and the number of chapters from 47 to 23.

♦ The number of words had been reduced from 5.12 lakh to 2.6 lakh in the new Income Tax Act, and for the first time, it introduces 39 new tables and 40 new formulas, replacing the dense text of the 1961 law to enhance clarity.

Infrastructure Investment Trusts

♦ The total Assets Under Management (AUM) of Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) in India have reached $73 billion in FY 2025, driven by large-scale infrastructure investments, According to the Knight Frank report.

♦ This figure is projected to grow 3.5 times to $257.9 billion by 2030.

♦ India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing destinations for Infrastructure Investment Trusts and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) in Asia. 

♦ Central government spending on core infrastructure surged from $12 bn in FY 2015 to $75 bn in FY 2025, a 6.2-fold rise, growing from 0.6 percent of the GDP to 2.0 percent over the same period, reflecting a strong policy focus on infrastructure-led growth, the report stated.

♦ Infrastructure development will be crucial to achieving India’s $7 trillion economy target, which Knight Frank estimates will require $2.2 trillion in investment.

♦ The report said, globally, there are over 1,000 publicly listed REITs and InvITs, also termed master business trusts, boasting a combined market capitalisation of approximately $3 trillion.

♦ In India, there are currently five REITs and 17 InvITs listed on the stock exchange, with a combined market capitalisation of $33.2 billion.

Indias merchandise exports

♦ India’s merchandise exports showed a strong performance in July, registering an increase of around 7.3 percent to 37.24 billion dollars on an annual basis.

♦ According to provisional data by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, major drivers of goods exports growth were engineering goods, gems and jewellery, electronics, pharmaceuticals and organic and inorganic chemicals.

♦ Among these, electronic goods exports increased around 34 per cent from 2.81 billion dollars in July 2024 to 3.77 billion dollars last month.

♦ The total exports of goods and services during the same period is estimated at 277.63 billion dollars, registering a growth of 5.23 per cent as compared to corresponding figure last year.

Kerala State Financial Enterprises (KSFE)

♦ Kerala State Financial Enterprises (KSFE) has become the first miscellaneous non-banking financial company in India to achieve a business turnover of Rs.1 lakh crore.

♦ The state-owned firm reached this figure in record time, doubling its turnover from Rs.50,000 crore in just four years.

Indias Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections

♦ India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections rose to Rs.1.96 lakh crore in 2025 July, up 7.5 percent from the same month of the previous year (2024 July).

♦ The data was released by the Union Government on 1 August 2025. 

♦ In July 2025, the total gross GST collection comprised Rs.35,470 crore from Central GST, Rs.44,059 crore from State GST, Rs.1,03,536 crore from Integrated GST (including Rs 51,626 crore from imports), and Rs.12,670 crore from cess (including Rs 1,086 crore from imports).

♦ While July 2025, marked the seventh consecutive month with collections above Rs.1.8 lakh crore, the figure was lower than the Rs.2.1 lakh crore average seen in the first quarter of FY26.